CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++structheap-memorystack-memory
kjh
kjh

Reputation: 3405

C++: Deleting the the fields of a struct that was declared on the stack

If I declare a struct such as this one:

struct MyStruct
{
    int* nums;
};

MyStruct ms;
ms.nums = new int[4];

Do I need to call delete ms.nums; before exiting my program or will the member variable nums automatically get deallocated because the MyStruct instance ms wasn't declared on the heap?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 3174

Answers (7)

Mike Seymour
Mike Seymour

Reputation: 254431

Memory for the pointer itself will be deallocated when the object is destroyed, as it is for any class member. However, the array it points to won't be deleted - there is no way to know what the pointer points to, whether it was allocated by new or new[] or not dynamically allocated at all, or whether anything else still wants to use it. To avoid memory leaks, you should delete it, with the array form delete [] ms.nums;, once you've finished with it.

Since it's often hard to do this correctly, why not use a library class to manage the array correctly for you?

#include <vector>

struct MyStruct
{
    std::vector<int> nums;
};

MyStruct ms;
ms.nums.resize(4);

Now all the memory will be released automatically when ms is destroyed; and the class is correctly copyable and (since C++11) efficiently movable.

Upvotes: 1

αλεχολυτ
αλεχολυτ

Reputation: 5039

When program exit, OS will free all memory allocated by your program. On the other hand, if a memory allocation occurs multiple times during the life of the program, then surely it should be released to prevent dangling pointers.

Upvotes: 0

Snake Sanders
Snake Sanders

Reputation: 2689

The struct is allocated on the stack, which basically is a pointer to an Array. the array is allocated on the heap. Every time you write "new" that means that the allocation is on the heap therefore you need to "delete" it. On the other hand the struct will be remove as soon as you exit the function.

Upvotes: 0

Varo
Varo

Reputation: 851

Yes, you have to delete that.. struct's default destructor won't do that. It will just delete the pointer variable which holds the address of the object and object will be left alone forever.

Better to do the deletion inside the struct's destructor

struct MyStruct
{
  int* nums;

  public :
     ~MyStruct()
      {
        if(nums != NULL)
            delete nums;
      }
};

Upvotes: 5

geometrian
geometrian

Reputation: 15377

The member variable nums (which is a pointer) will get automatically deallocated when ms, the struct containing it, is popped off the stack.

However, the memory pointed to by nums will NOT. You should call delete [] ms.nums; before your program exits.

Upvotes: 4

Chinna
Chinna

Reputation: 3992

You need to call delete if memory allocated and pointer returned to num. Here num is a pointer inside a structure. Memory for num is allocated when you declare structure variable. But memory address which is allocated by new should be un-allocated by calling delete

Upvotes: 1

0xF1
0xF1

Reputation: 6116

You always have to call delete to deallocate all the memory that you explicitly allocated using new.

When you allocate memory using new, memory is allocated in heap and the base address of the block is returned back.

Your struct is present in stack which contains a pointer pointing to that base address. When the struct object leaves the scope, the object is deallocated , i.e. the pointer containig the address of allocated heap memory block is gone, but the heap memory itself is still allocated which you can't deallocate now.

Upvotes: 2

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