Question

Assume I have some C++ method which returns back a pointer to an object. Something in the header file that looks like this:

uint8_t* getData(void);

This guy returns a byte array, but there is nothing that says if this is a dynamic or statically generated piece of data (local to the class or created with new).

Is there a specific naming convention in C++ to distinguish between methods that return memory that is dynamically allocated (and so must be deleted by the requester), vs methods that just return a reference to a statically define piece of data?

What is the preferred way to do this, or does it depend on the situation?

Answer 1

My conventions are:

uint8_t* getData();

is statically allocated, or at least it’s not my responsibility for deleting this data. However if it’s an array I would write:

pair<uint8_t*,uint8_t*> getData();

Or define a container for that.

auto_ptr<uint8_t> getData();
unique_ptr<uint8_t> getData();

allocates single object and I own it from now on.

shared_ptr<uint8_t> getData();

allocates single object with shared ownership.

vector<uint8_t> getData();

allocates an array, vector owns the memory.