RAII works fine in Zig
std::mutex m;
void good()
{
std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lk(m); // RAII class: mutex acquisition is initialization
f(); // if f() throws an exception, the mutex is released
if(!everything_ok()) return; // early return, the mutex is released
} // if good() returns normally, the mutex is released var m: std.Thread.Mutex = .{};
fn good() !void {
m.lock();
defer m.unlock();
try f();
if (!everything_ok()) return;
}
It's still the RAII pattern. The explicit call to deinitialization does not disqualify it. I can overcomplicate it with a LockGuard class too: const LockGuard = struct {
mutex: *std.Thread.Mutex,
fn init(mutex: *std.Thread.Mutex) !LockGuard {
mutex.lock();
return .{
.mutex = mutex,
};
}
fn deinit(lg: *LockGuard) void {
lg.mutex.unlock();
}
};
fn good() !void {
var lk = try LockGuard.init(&m);
defer lk.deinit();
try f();
if (!everything_ok()) return;
}
In this case it demonstrates an improvement over C++, which is what happens if an error happens during a constructor. In C++ throwing an exception in a constructor is essentially UB; in zig it's a regular function call just like anything else.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_acquisition_is_initia...
Regarding errors in a C++ constructor: https://isocpp.org/wiki/faq/exceptions#ctors-can-throw