Question

Consider this small program:

int main(int argc, const char *argv[])
{
    int *i = new int;
    //do something with i, where i is involved all the time
    return 0;
}

As a matter of good style and to show that you actually know you must free memory allocated on the heap you normally add delete i; just before return statement.

But will it do any harm if leaving delete i; out?

UPDATE: Please do not flame each other in comments. I do know that just to be on safe side and just as the matter of good style and so on I should free allocated memory. The question is, can it be ommitted safely in this particular case.

Answer 1

There won’t be any harm. The OS deallocates all the process’s memory, when it dies.

Nevertheless not deleting your variables is a bad style as it hinders the use of tools such as Valgrind.