[richardm1985]

Here is the code:

class HasPtr
{
	public:
		HasPtr(const string &s = string()) : ps(new string(s)), i (0) {}
		HasPtr(const HasPtr &hp) : ps(new string(*hp.ps)), i(hp.i) {}
		HasPtr& operator=(const HasPtr &hp);
		~HasPtr(){delete ps;};

	private:
		string *ps;
		int i;
};

HasPtr& HasPtr::operator=(const HasPtr &hp)
{
	auto newp = (new string(*hp.ps));
	delete ps;
	cout << *hp.ps << endl;;
	ps = newp;
	i = hp.i;
	return *this;
}

I added the cout below "delete ps;" so I could see if hp.ps data still existed or deleted...but it still exists...so my question is...When I try:

HasPtr one("richard"), two;
two = one;

I'm rather confused about the whole concept so my question might seem confusing, but what the hell is happening with the delete??? What am I deleting? Am I deleting what ps points to? So shouldn't "cout << *hp.ps;" fail because *ps is pointing to that value??

Ran debugger a few times to try to understand what is happening. It seems that ps is apart of "*this" and if I dont use delete, than whatever string I place in "burger" will just be sitting in memory with no way to access it. I think I just answered my question thanks guys!

[richardm1985]

Ran debugger a few times to try to understand what is happening. It seems that ps is apart of "*this" and if I dont use delete, than whatever string I place in "burger" will just be sitting in memory with no way to access it. I think I just answered my question thanks guys!

[ButchDean]

As you've discovered delete just removes the reference to that region of memory, it doesn't wipe the location's value.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Quote

Ran debugger a few times to try to understand what is happening

You, sir, are well on your way to becoming an actual software developer! Huzzah!

[ButchDean]

Agreed! So refreshing!

[jjl]

Deallocating memory with delete does not wipe the memory, rather it just tell's the OS that memory location is fair game for other uses.

[Skydiver]

If you use the VS2010 and VS2012 compilers and use the debug version of the C++ runtime library, it can be configured to write a specific bit pattern into the memory that has been freed to help diagnose errors.