char str[256] AND char *str = new char(256)

[Igor Mihailov]

Hi, people. Can sommebody explain me the difference between 1. char str[256] 2. char *str = new char(256) I thought it's equevalent, but my program works good with 1st and fails sometimes when I use the second variant. Unfortunately I can't watch when it happens. Help me

[Kosk]

I think what you want is: char *str = new char [256]; [] instead of ()

[Gary R Wheeler]

Kosk has the correct answer, but here's a little explanation: The first form is an array of 256 char's. The second form returns a pointer to a single char, initialized to the value 256 (which actually initializes the value to zero, which is the lower 8 bits that fit into a single char). What you actually want is char *str = new char[256];, which sets str to a pointer that is an array of 256 char's. Note that, with this form, when you no longer need the array, you should use delete []str.

---

Software Zen: delete this;

[Archer282]

char str[256]; is an array of characters (actually unsigned integers) char *str = new char[256]; is a pointer to an array of characters stored in memory this is mostly used in functions that take an output parameter.