Question

I want to initialize an array with a size using a value I read into an integer variable.
I cant seem to understand why it works in Dev-C++ but not in Turbo C++. Here’s the code to help make things clear

int arr_size; //cin max value for lets say number of students or something...
cin >> arr_size;
int array[arr_size]; // declares array with size (assume 10 or 100) with range 0 to 9 or 0-99

The compiler shows an error in Turbo C++ (really old, I know, but my school uses it unfortunately). Dev-C++ and codeblocks doesnt.

Why is that so? I know its bad practice “as they define it in some books” to have an array size the same as an int value, but is there a work around for this in Turbo C++?
I want to know why the error happens and how I can get a work around it … thanks a lot!

Answer 1

Variable length arrays are not allowed in standard c++. You can do it in C99. Consider using C++ std::vector as :

std::vector<int> array(arr_size);

And you can index it exactly like the array if you have to.