Return string array in C++ function

Question

I am new to C++. For a school project I need to make a function which will be able to return a string array.

Currently I have this in my header:

Config.h

Answer 1

In C++ you don't use an array, but a std::vector instance. Arrays in C++ must have a compile-time fixed length while std::vector instances can change their length at runtime.

std::vector Config::getVehicles()
{
    std::vector test(5);
    test[0] = "test0";
    test[1] = "test1";
    test[2] = "test2";
    test[3] = "test3";
    test[4] = "test4";
    return test;
}

std::vector can also grow dynamically, so in a C++ program you will find more often something like

std::vector Config::getVehicles()
{
    std::vector test; // Empty on creation
    test.push_back("test0"); // Adds an element
    test.push_back("test1");
    test.push_back("test2");
    test.push_back("test3");
    test.push_back("test4");
    return test;
}

Allocating dynamically an array of std::string is technically possible but a terrible idea in C++ (for example C++ doesn't provide the garbage collector that Java has).

If you want to program in C++ then grab a good C++ book and read it cover to cover first... writing Java code in C++ is a recipe for a disaster because the languages, despite the superficial braces similarity, are very very different in many fundamental ways.