Will this C++ code cause a memory leak (casting array new)

Question

I have been working on some legacy C++ code that uses variable length structures (TAPI), where the structure size will depend on variable length strings. The structures are allo

Answer 1

I personally think you'd be better off using std::vector to manage your memory, so you don't need the delete.

std::vector backing(sizeof(STRUCT) + nPaddingSize);
STRUCT* pStruct = (STRUCT*)(&backing[0]);

Once backing leaves scope, your pStruct is no longer valid.

Or, you can use:

boost::scoped_array backing(new BYTE[sizeof(STRUCT) + nPaddingSize]);
STRUCT* pStruct = (STRUCT*)backing.get();

Or boost::shared_array if you need to move ownership around.