Need to implement a finalizer on a class that uses TcpClient?

Question

I have a class (say MyClass) that uses (has as a private field) a TcpClient object. MyClass implements IDisposable calling TcpClient.Close in the Dispose method.

My question is should MyClass also implement a finalizer to call Dispose(bool Disposing) to free the TcpClient’s unmanaged resources in case MyClass.Dispose is not called by the calling code?

Thanks

Answer 1

No you shouldn't.

Because you should never call a method on an other object in a finalizer, it could have been finalized before your object.

The finalizer of your TcpClient will be called by the garbage collector, so let him do.

The pattern in Dispose is :

protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
   if (disposing)
   { 
      // dispose managed resources (here your TcpClient)
   }

   // dispose your unmanaged resources 
   // handles etc using static interop methods.
}