Question

I am looking at some legacy code and came across x=new(Foo); (note the parenthesis around the type supplied). I tested out variations and it appears to be the same as x=new Foo;

Foo is a non-POD data structure. Some external memory leak program is flagging the line – it’s allocating memory for a CORBA out parameter so the caller should be taking care of the delete but that is a separate issue with many layers of indirection.

Is my analysis correct and is it acceptable style?

Answer 1

If the name of the type has parentheses it must be enclosed in parentheses. Other types may be enclosed as well.

Example where parentheses are required:

new int(*[10])();    // parser error: parsed as (new int) (*[10]) ()
new (int (*[10])()); // OK: allocates an array of 10 pointers to functions

From cppreference.com: new expression