In this article, I'll be covering a subtle but egregious problem that can occur in C++ programs. This problem is popularly called the 'Static Initialization Order Fiasco'.

I'll first go over what the problem is, then go onto some solutions and explore how they work. Let's get started.

This is what we'll cover:

Prerequisites

What is the 'Static Initialization Order Fiasco' in C++ ?

The C++ standard states:

"The order in which static objects are initialized across different translation units is undefined or ambiguous."

A translation unit is just a way of saying a file that is fed into the compiler. It's a C++ source file with all the code from the headers included in it.

One thing to note though, for later in the article: static objects in the same translation unit are constructed in order of declaration and destructed in the reverse order.

So, how is this a problem?

It can be a problem in the following situation:

Let's say there are 2 static objects in 2 different files. File1.cpp has a static object of type class A – aObj . File2.cpp has a static object of type class B – bObj. The static object in File1.cpp is visible to File2.cpp since it declares aObj as extern in File1.h.


// Static initialization order problem
// File1.h
class A {
....
  void doSomething() {
    ...
  } 
}
extern A aObj;

//File1.cpp


static A aObj;

// File2.cpp

class B {
B() {
 aObj.doSomething();// Not okay! aObj may not have been constructed
}
....
}

static B bObj;

In this program, it is possible that the object aObj in File1.cpp gets initialized before bObj in File2.cpp. That is all good since in that case, the constructor for bObj runs after aObj has been constructed. It is safe to call call methods on aObj.

But it is also possible that the object bObj in File2.cpp gets initialized before aObj in File1.cpp. In that case, the constructor of bObj calls doSomething() on aObj which has not been constructed! The memory has been allocated for aObj, but it hasn't been constructed. This could lead to unintended behavior / a corrupt program.

So this is what the static initialization order fiasco is all about.

But we're not done: the other problem is the static de-initialization order fiasco! This is pretty much the same problem, just applied to the order of de-initialization of static objects.

The C++ standard doesn't specify the order in which static objects get de-initialized as well. So it is possible that static object aObj gets destroyed before bObj. This is a problem if bObj's destructor uses or references aObj.

This is illustrated in the code snippet below – it is pretty much the same as the example above, just that its the de-initialization order which is dangerous this time:

// Static de-initialization order problem
// File1.h
class A {
....
  void doSomething() {
    ...
  } 
}
extern A aObj;

//File1.cpp

static A aObj;

// File2.cpp

class B {
B() {}
~B() {
 aObj.doSomething(); // Not okay! aObj may have already been destructed!
}
....
}

static B bObj;

Note: These problems are only applicable to objects with static storage scope. They won't occur if bObj was a variable with automatic storage scope. In that case, the C++ standard guarantees that aObj is constructed before bObj and destructed after it.

Another note: These problems also do not occur in C programs. Why is that so? Well in C, there's no concept of constructors and destructors. Static objects are completely defined during compile time.

How to Solve the Static De-initialization Order Problem

Now that it is clear what the problem is, I will discuss some solutions. There are multiple ways of solving this problem – each with its tradeoffs. Let's take a look.

Construct on first use idiom:

This idiom tries to make sure that there is always a fully constructed object whenever the static object in question is used. Following the examples in the previous section, we can do this by replacing all references to aObj by a function call aObj() which returns a reference to an object of type A.

In code it looks like this:

// Static initialization order problem
// File1.h
class A {
....
  void doSomething() {
    ...
  } 
};

A& aObj();

//File1.cpp

A& aObj() {
  static A *aObj = new A();
  return *aObj; 
}

// File2.cpp

class B {
 B() {
   /*
    * Okay since calling aObj() gaurantees that
    * static A *aObj = new A(); ran
    */
   aObj().doSomething();  
  }
  ....
};

static B bObj;

bObj can safely assume that calling aObj() returns a fully constructed aObj since this line:

static A *aObj = new A();

would have run on the function call and will give it a fully constructed object. Also, since the program never calls delete on aObj, it is never destructed so it is also safe to use aObj in bObj's destructor.

But this does mean that the memory allocated for aObj always stays alive and valid throughout the lifetime of the program. And this may or may not be a problem (it does get reclaimed by the OS after the program exits, of course).

So, in which situation is this solution not great? In the case that aObj's destructor does something desirable. For example: when aObj gets destructed – it writes to a log file / does something else that has some side effects.

Now you may ask, okay, why don't just I replace the static pointer in the aObj() function call with a static aObj object?

A& aObj() {
  static A aObj;
  return aObj; 
}

That still ensures that aObj has been fully constructed by the time the function is called right? Right. But it does not save us from the static de-initialization order problem. It is still possible that aObj's destructor runs before bObj 's destructor.

There is an interesting trick that solves both of these problems: The Nifty Counter Idiom.

Nifty Counter Solution

Reference: this resource on the Nifty counter idiom presents the idea behind this idiom. Let's examine it.

The idea is to ensure that:

  1. The static object being used gets constructed before any other static object in the translation unit that it is being used in.
  2. The static object being used gets destructed after any other static object in the translation unit that it is being used in.
// File1.h
#pragma once

struct A {
  A();
  ~A();
};
extern A& aObj;

static struct AInitializer {
  AInitializer ();
  ~AInitializer ();
} aInitializer; // static initializer for every translation unit that aObj is used in

// File1.cpp
#include "File1.h"

#include <new>         // Used for placement new
#include <type_traits> // Used for aligned_storage

static int niftyCounter; // this is zero initialized at load time

/*
 * Memory for the static object aObj - memory itself is valid throughout the
 * the lifetime of the program.
 */
static typename std::aligned_storage<sizeof (A), alignof (A)>::type
  aObjBuf; 

A& aObj = reinterpret_cast<A&> (aObj);

A::A ()
{
  // Construct A
}
A::~A ()
{
  /*
   * Destruct A: with possible side effects
   * like writing to a file.
   */
} 

AInitializer::AInitializer ()
{
  if (niftyCounter++ == 0) {
    new (&aObj) A (); // use placement new operator
  }
}

AInitializer::~AInitializer ()
{
  if (--niftyCounter == 0) {
    (&aObj)->~A(); // run the destructor
  }
}

Let's try to understand what this code does.

First, in the header file, File1.h has the definition of class A first. After that, is have the definition of a class called AInitializer.

There is also a static object defined in the header file of type AInitializer. This makes sure that the constructor for AInitializer runs before the constructor for any other static object in the translation unit that File1.h is included in (of course you have to include File1.h before any other static object's definition in source files).

Remember: static objects in the same translation unit are constructed in order of declaration and destructed in the reverse order.

So now that AInitializer is constructed before any other static objects in a translation unit, how can we use this to our advantage? aObj can be constructed in the constructor of AInitializer! Which is what is happening in the lines below:

AInitializer::AInitializer ()
{
  if (nifty_counter++ == 0) {
    new (&aObj) A (); // use placement new
  }
}

Note that the placement new operator is being used here instead of the new operator to construct aObj. Let's see what would happen if we used new instead. The code would look like this:

A& aObj;
A *aObjp = nullptr;

AInitializer::AInitializer ()
{
  if (nifty_counter++ == 0) {
    aObjp = new A (); 
    aObj = *aObjp; // Not okay! Cannot re-assign a reference
  }
}

This doesn't work since a reference needs to be defined and declared at the same time. That is precisely why the placement new operator needs to be used.

static typename std::aligned_storage<sizeof (A), alignof (A)>::type
  aObjBuf; 

A& aObj = reinterpret_cast<A&> (aObj)

This allocates memory to fit an object of type A and later assigns that to the reference. Now all that's left to be done is to actually construct the object in AInitializer's constructor – which is what is done with the placement new operator.

Another question that may arise in your mind: here, there is a static object aObjBuf. But isn't that subject to the same de-initialization order problem that we talked about in the second part of the Construct on first use idiom?

The answer is that the memory for aObjBuf stays alive and valid until the program is alive. Nothing happens in the construction of the memory. So it's valid to this.

This approach also makes sure that the static de-initialization order problem isn't hit, since the last AInitializer object destructed will call the destructor of aObj. That is guaranteed to run after any static objects in other translation units run, since within the particular translation unit, the static object aInitializer is declared before any other static object using aObj. This means it will get destructed in the reverse order – that is after the destructor for any other static objects have run.

There are some caveats here: this solution isn't the easiest to understand and implement. This is also not thread safe. You can find more information in the article on Nifty counters presented in the The C/C++ Users Journal, May, 1999 here.

Summary

Using statically initialized objects in C++ is tricky and should be done with care. Fortunately, there are multiple solutions and ways to get around the problem.

In this article, we covered some common solutions: the 'Construct on first use' idiom and the 'Nifty counter solution', along with their merits and challenges.

Hope you enjoyed this article!