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Memory Management for Linked Lists

• When a linked list (Chapter 16) is no longer needed, the nodes should be deleted.
• To automate this task you define a destructor.

  List::~List()
  {
     free();
  }
  
  void List::free()
  {
     while(begin() != end())
        erase(begin());
  }
  

• The free function is kept separate from the destructor because its implementation is also needed for the assignment operator.

  List& List::operator=(const List& b)
  {
     if (this != &b)
     {
        free();
        copy(b);
     }
     return *this;
  }
  

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