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The member initializer list for a class constructor allows members to be initialized to specified values and for base class constructors to be called with specific arguments. However, the order in which initialization occurs is fixed and does not depend on the order written in the member initializer list. According to the C++ Standard, [class.base.init], paragraph 11 [ISO/IEC 14882-2014]:

In a non-delegating constructor, initialization proceeds in the following order:
— First, and only for the constructor of the most derived class, virtual base classes are initialized in the order they appear on a depth-first left-to-right traversal of the directed acyclic graph of base classes, where “left-to-right” is the order of appearance of the base classes in the derived class base-specifier-list.
— Then, direct base classes are initialized in declaration order as they appear in the base-specifier-list (regardless of the order of the mem-initializers).
— Then, non-static data members are initialized in the order they were declared in the class definition (again regardless of the order of the mem-initializers).
— Finally, the compound-statement of the constructor body is executed.
[Note: The declaration order is mandated to ensure that base and member subobjects are destroyed in the reverse order of initialization. —end note]

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Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.

Bibliography

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