Quick Question Regarding Pointers

OK i've just got a quick question regarding pointers using new and delete operators. I tried to look it up in one book and several sites so far, but haven't really found an answer to this...

If i dynamically allocate memory using new, when my program exits will that memory be freed automatically by the operating system?

Perhaps an example would help...

Code:

---

int main() {
    int * num;
    num = new int;
    *num = 5;
    cout << "Value of number is: " << *num << endl;
    return 0;
}

---

(This isn't my real situation hehe)
Anyway, in the above, would the memory 'num' is pointing to be freed upon termination of my program? Or would it create a memory leak where no application can access that memory???

It depends on the operating system. It's better to make sure you delete your allocated memory.

Well if it depends on the operating system (which i shouldve thought of before.. =x), do you (or anyone else) know specifically the behavior of windows in this kind of situation??

I guess this should've been on Windows board, but i was thinking its more of a general c++ question when i first posted.

I believe Windows releases the memory your application has allocated when it closes. However, other resources may not be released so it is a good idea to always explicitly release what you have allocated. For a more in-depth discussion on this subject, see Is it a memory leak.

Thanks for all your help guys. I guess i was a bit ambiguous. I'm just trying to make a set of classes that make windows development a bit easier (i know there are many out there but i find it a lot more educational to write my own =)). Basically, this is what a program would look like:

Code:

---

Window * Form1;
BEGIN_MAIN
    Form1 = new Window;
    Form1->show();
END_MAIN

---

I can't call delete on the pointer right after i show because it hasnt entered the message loop yet. Cleaning up the acutal components isn't an issue, since i have all that code in my destructors. After reading your replies and the posts on the link you gave me, i think i should be ok since my class destructor should at least be called, right?