Question

I am having some difficulty understanding how containers are implemented in C++. Specifically, how can I deal with data allocated on the stack vs data allocated on the heap. For instance:

vector<int> VectorA;
VectorA.push_back (1);
VectorA.push_back (2);
VectorA.push_back (3);

vector<int*> VectorB;
VectorB.push_back (new int (1));
VectorB.push_back (new int (2));
VectorB.push_back (new int (3));

How does one deal with making sure the integers in VectorB are deleted properly. I remember reading somewhere that std::vector only calls the destructor and doesn’t actually delete anything. Also, if I wanted to implement my own LinkedList class, how would I deal with this particular problem?

Answer 1

The ideal way to deal with the problem is by using Smart Pointers as elements of your container instead of raw pointers.
Otherwise you have to manually do the memory management yourself.