Exceptional C++ Style 40 New Engineering Puzzles, Programming Problems, and Solutions

Chapter 23. To new, Perchance to throw, Part 2: Pragmatic Issues in Memory Management

Difficulty: 5

Avoid using new(nothrow), and make sure that when you're checking for new failure, you're really checking what you think you're checking.

JG Question

1. Explain the two main ways that the standard forms of new report an error if there isn't enough memory available.

Guru Question

1. Does using the nothrow form of new help us make our code more exception-safe? Justify your answer.

2. Describe real-world circumstances, either within standard C++ or outside strictly standard C++, where it might actually be impossible or useless to try to check for memory exhaustion.

Solution

In the previous Item, I illustrated and justified the following coding guideline:

• Any class that ...