How to initialize an array whose size is initially unknown?

c++ arrays initialization lazy-initialization

moonbeamer2234 · Mar 16, 2014 · Viewed 79.2k times · Source

Say I have this:

int x;
int x = (State Determined By Program);
const char * pArray[(const int)x]; // ??

How would I initialize pArray before using it? Because the initial size of the Array is determined by user input

Thanks!

Answer

Size of dynamically created array on the stack must be known at compile time.

You can either use new:

const char* pArray = new char[x];
...
delete[] pArray;

or better to use std::vector instead (no need to do memory management manually):

vector<char> pArray;
...
pArray.resize(x);