Thread: bad_alloc

Hello everyone,


Please help to comment whether my following understanding is correct,

1. whether or not we are using auto_ptr to allocate new object on heap (using new), there may be bad_alloc exceptions;

2. when we met with such exceptions, we catch it (bad_alloc) and try to mininize the operation in catch handler block (since when bad_alloc occurs, it means memory is running out, we can not do anything complex in handler).

Both are correct? Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.


thanks in advance,
George

Thanks CornedBee,

Originally Posted by CornedBee

1. auto_ptr is used to ensure that the memory is freed. It has nothing at all to do with allocation. So yes, whether or not you use it, the new operator may throw. Unless you use the non-throwing variant.

2. Catching bad_alloc is something that is typically only done in two places:
1) At the top level of your program, to ensure graceful termination in OOM situations (there's not much you can do about them other than terminating).
2) Around areas that allocate an unusually large amount of memory. In such cases, you can just abort the memory-intensive operation and keep your program alive.

If we met with bad_alloc, do we need to use delete or delete[] to free the memory in exception handler block?


regards,
George

Originally Posted by George2

If we met with bad_alloc, do we need to use delete or delete[] to free the memory in exception handler block?

No. bad_alloc means there wasn't enough memory to allocate what you asked for. So since it didn't allocate anything, you don't need to delete anything.

Thanks for your clarification, cpjust!


My question is answered.

Originally Posted by cpjust

No. bad_alloc means there wasn't enough memory to allocate what you asked for. So since it didn't allocate anything, you don't need to delete anything.

regards,
George