C++ Primer Plus

Automatic Storage, Static Storage, and Dynamic Storage

C++ has three ways of managing memory for data, depending on the method used to allocate memory: automatic storage, static storage, and dynamic storage, sometimes called the free store or heap. Data objects allocated in these three ways differ from each other in how long they remain in existence. We’ll take a quick look at each type. (C++11 adds a fourth form called thread storage that we’ll discuss briefly in Chapter 9.)

Automatic Storage

Ordinary variables defined inside a function use automatic storage and are called automatic variables. These terms mean that the variables come into existence automatically when the function containing them is invoked, and they expire when the function ...