When Should You Use the 'new' Operator in C ?

When to Utilize "new" in C

Dynamic memory management in C introduces the concept of dynamically allocating objects in runtime using the "new" operator. Understanding when to use "new" and when not to is crucial.

Use "new" When:

• You desire an object to persist until explicitly deleted. When an object is declared without "new," it is automatically destroyed upon exiting its scope.
• You allocate an array of unknown size at runtime. In-place or stack arrays cannot be resized, necessitating dynamic allocation for arrays of varying sizes.

Do Not Use "new" When:

• Declaring objects that are intended to be scoped within a block or a function.
• Assigning an existing object to a pointer rather than dynamically allocating a new one.

Consider the following examples:

With "new":

Point* p1 = new Point(0, 0);

p1 points to a dynamically allocated Point object that persists throughout the program.

Without "new":

Point p1(0, 0);

p1 is a scoped object that will be destroyed when it goes out of scope.

Conclusion:

The "new" operator enables dynamic memory allocation, allowing objects to be created and destroyed explicitly during runtime. Proper usage of "new" ensures efficient memory management and prevents memory leaks or dangling pointers.

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