error in releasing the static array in debug mode

Question

Why it has error in releasing the static array in debug mode?

int main()
{
 int ar[] = { 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 };
 //other code

 delete(ar);
 // or free(ar);

 return 0;
}

I used free or delete to release the array and it finished with error in debug mode.
Do i use the free or delete correctly?
How can i release the array?

You cannot dynamically deallocate variables allocated on stack. You can only use "delete" if you used "new" first. — Rames, Jan 04 '16 at 16:55
Well it is deleted after it goes out of scope - so after `return 0;` in your example. — Rames, Jan 04 '16 at 16:58
I use many arrays in other functions and it need to release. — SaeidMo7, Jan 04 '16 at 17:03
***How can i release the array?*** You can not release the stack space occupied by the array without the current function exiting. Maybe you want to switch to using `std::vector`. — drescherjm, Jan 04 '16 at 17:07

Danny_ds · Answer 1 · 2016-01-04T16:58:28.640

3

ar[] is not allocated on the heap, but local/on the stack, so can't be (and shouldn't be) deleted.

The memory is released on function (or block {}) exit.

You can only use delete with new or free() with malloc()

edited Jan 04 '16 at 16:58

answered Jan 04 '16 at 16:54

Danny_ds

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score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 04 '16 at 17:23

the delete operator and 'free' function are to be used only on pointers that own memory allocated on the heap. your array is allocated on the stack, and the internal implementation will crash when it will not find any heap structure.

moreover, delete is only to be applied on memory allocated with new and free only on memory allocated with malloc,calloc or realloc.

last thing is that when you use delete on an array, use delete [] for this means that the removal will take place on an earlier offset on the stack, when the record of the array itself is allocated, doing otherwise might end with a memory leak or worse

error in releasing the static array in debug mode

2 Answers2