Question

When I try to do the following I get an error saying I’m trying to read or write to protected memory.

void func1(int * ptr) {
    int *ptr_b = new int[5];
    ptr = ptr_b; 
}

void main() {
    int *ptr_a;
    func1(ptr_a);
    delete [] ptr_a;
}

Is this legal?

Answer 1

No. You’re making a common beginner mistake. You’re not remembering that pointers are just variables that are passed by value unless you ask for a reference or pointer to them. Change the signature of your function to void func1(int *& ptr)