CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++memory-managementnew-operator
zaharpopov
zaharpopov

Reputation: 17272

why call operator new explicitly

I saw code like this:

void *NewElts = operator new(NewCapacityInBytes);

And matching call explicitly operator delete is used consequent later.

Why do this instead of:

void *NewElts = new char[NewCapacityInBytes];

Why explicit call to operator new and operator delete??

Upvotes: 21

Views: 5676

Answers (4)

jcoder
jcoder

Reputation: 30045

Use it when you want to allocate a block of "raw" memory and don't want anything constructed in that memory.

There is little practical difference between allocating a block of raw memory and "constructing" an array of chars but using operator new clearly signals your intent to anyone reading the code which is important.

Upvotes: 1

Charles Salvia
Charles Salvia

Reputation: 53329

Explicitly calling operator new like that calls the global "raw" operator new. Global operator new returns a raw memory block without calling the object's constructor or any user-defined overloads of new. So basically, global operator new is similar to malloc from C.

So:

// Allocates space for a T, and calls T's constructor,
// or calls a user-defined overload of new.
//
T* v = new T;

// Allocates space for N instances of T, and calls T's 
// constructor on each, or calls a user-defined overload
// of new[]
//
T* v = new T[N];

// Simply returns a raw byte array of `sizeof(T)` bytes.
// No constructor is invoked.
//
void* v = ::operator new(sizeof(T));

Upvotes: 32

Stuart Golodetz
Stuart Golodetz

Reputation: 20656

If you write:

T *p = new T;

That allocates enough memory to hold a T, then constructs the T into it. If you write:

T *p = ::operator new(sizeof(T));

That allocates enough memory to hold a T, but doesn't construct the T. One of the times you might see this is when people are also using placement new:

T *p = ::operator new(sizeof(T)); // allocate memory for a T
new (p) T; // construct a T into the allocated memory
p->~T(); // destroy the T again
::operator delete(p); // deallocate the memory

Upvotes: 7

Puppy
Puppy

Reputation: 146998

If you call operator new(bytesize), then you can delete it using delete, whereas if you allocate via new char[bytesize], then you have to match it using delete[], which is an abomination to be avoided wherever possible. This is most likely the root reason to use it.

Upvotes: 2

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