Memory allocation and deallocation in C++ - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Memory allocation and deallocation

📖 Scenario: Imagine you are managing a small library system where you need to store the number of books available in different sections. You want to learn how to create space in memory to store this data and then clean up the space when you are done.

🎯 Goal: You will write a simple C++ program that allocates memory dynamically for storing the number of books in three sections, assigns values to them, and then frees the memory.

📋 What You'll Learn

Use new to allocate memory for an array of integers

Assign values to the allocated memory

Use delete[] to free the allocated memory

Print the values stored in the allocated memory

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Dynamic memory allocation is used in programs where the amount of data is not known before running the program, like managing lists of items or user inputs.

💼 Career

Understanding memory allocation and deallocation is essential for software developers to write efficient and safe C++ programs, especially in systems programming and game development.

1

Create a pointer and allocate memory

Create an integer pointer called books and allocate memory for 3 integers using new.

C++

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use int* books = new int[3]; to allocate memory for 3 integers.

2

Assign values to the allocated memory

Assign the values 10, 20, and 30 to the first, second, and third elements of the books array respectively.

C++

int* books = new int[3];
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use books[0] = 10; and similarly for the other elements.

3

Print the values stored in the allocated memory

Use a for loop with variable i from 0 to 2 to print each value in the books array separated by spaces.

C++

int* books = new int[3];
books[0] = 10;
books[1] = 20;
books[2] = 30;

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use a for loop and std::cout to print each element.

4

Deallocate the memory

Use delete[] books; to free the memory allocated for the books array. Then print a newline character.

C++

int* books = new int[3];
books[0] = 10;
books[1] = 20;
books[2] = 30;

for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
    std::cout << books[i] << " ";
}

// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use delete[] books; to free the memory and then print a newline.