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  1. Prepare
  2. C++
  3. Introduction
  4. Arrays Introduction
  5. Discussions

Arrays Introduction

  • Chilly_Vanilly
     + 2 comments

    The reason you would use a heap-allocated block of contiguous memory a.k.a. 'array', is because you do NOT know the exact number representing the size of the array at COMPILE TIME. So basically std::cin >> n; int* A = new int[n]; -> here 'n' will be known at RUNTIME, when the user interacts with the program and enters some number. BUT! Performing calculations also based on non-const/already known values and using the result as the array size will not work either... Depending on the compiler, but in GCC using g++, try doing all this with a stack allocated array - it MIGHT let you, and then try it with the -pedantic-errors flag and the compiler WON'T let you do such stuff...

    TL;DR So basically when you DO NOT KNOW the size of an array beforehand (like a hard-coded value '10' for example, or a const int or so) - use heap-allocated arrays!