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c++arrayspointersdelete-operator
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Reputation: 553

Large array of pointers deletion

I have large array of pointer like:

int *m_Data[1000];

During the destruction, should I go element wise always or is there any better way?

for(int i = 0; i<1000; i++)
  delete m_Data[i];

Upvotes: 0

Views: 240

Answers (3)

Pierre Fourgeaud
Pierre Fourgeaud

Reputation: 14510

Maybe you can do something like:

int* m_Data = new int[1000];

// ...

delete [] m_Data;

Or:

int m_Data[1000]; // Why to allocate each element dynamically ?

In this case, you don't need to delete any element.

But if you need to allocate each element dynamically one-by-one:

int *m_Data[1000];
for( int i = 0; i < 1000; i++ )
    m_Data[i] = new int;

// ...

for( int i = 0; i < 1000; i++ )
    delete m_Data[i];  // To need to deallocate each element.

Why don't you use a container like std::vector ?

std::vector<int> m_Data(1000);

Upvotes: 0

LihO
LihO

Reputation: 42083

int *m_Data[1000];

is an array of 1000 pointers to ints with automatic storage duration.

You need to call delete for every new and delete[] for every new[], i.e. this:

for(int i = 0; i<1000; i++)
    delete m_Data[i];

is correct only if you were previously doing something like:

for(int i = 0; i<1000; i++)
    m_Data[i] = new int;

"is there any better way?" - Yes:

std::vector<int> m_data(1000);

in this case the memory where elements reside will be automatically freed when the object is destructed (if needed, appropriate destructor will be called for each element).

Upvotes: 3

Angew is no longer proud of SO
Angew is no longer proud of SO

Reputation: 171127

You could use a smart pointer (such as std::unique_ptr) instead of raw pointers, and not worry about manual deletion:

std::unique_ptr<int> m_Data[1000];

Upvotes: 3

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