Is it useful to test the return of "new" in C++?

c++, new-operator

Solution

As per the current standard, new never returns NULL, it throws a std::bad_alloc instead. If you don't want new to throw(as per the old standard) but rather return NULL you should call it by postfixing it with "(std::nothrow)". i.e.

Foo* foo = new (std::nothrow) Foo;

Of course, if you have a very old or possibly broken toolchain it might not follow the standard.

Problem

I usually never see test for new in C++ and I was wondering why. `Foo *f = new Foo;` `// f is assumed as allocated, why usually, nobody test the return of new?`

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