In C++, why is `new` needed to dynamically create an object rather just allocation?

Question

I\'ve got this trivial class hierarchy:

class Base {
public:
    virtual int x( ) const = 0;
};

class Derived : public Base {
    int _x;
public:
    Derive         


        

Answer 1

Because malloc doesn't call the class's constructor, and doesn't know anything about any particular alignment requirements it might have. If you need to use malloc (not recommended), take a look at placement new (assuming you don't want to overload the regular new for some reason).