Question

The C++ code below is considered bad practice. DO NOT change the code, just explain what the problem is with the existing code. int *ptrint = new int[5]; int j = 10; ptrint = &j;

Answer 1

The problem with the existing code is that it causes a memory leak.

First, the code allocates memory on the heap using the `new` operator and stores the address of the allocated memory in the `ptrint` pointer. This creates an array of 5 integers in memory.

However, the next line of code assigns the address of the variable `j` to `ptrint`. This overwrites the original address of the array on the heap that `ptrint` was pointing to and replaces it with the address of `j`.

Since there is no longer a way to access the memory on the heap that was allocated with `new`, the program leaks memory. That memory can no longer be freed or used for any other purpose.

In addition, the code violates the type safety of the `ptrint` pointer. The pointer was originally declared as a pointer to an integer array, but the subsequent assignment assigns the address of a single integer to it. This can cause unintended behavior if `ptrint` is later dereferenced and treated as an array.