C++ – Stack Variables vs Heap Variables

c++heap-memoryobjectstack-memory

When you create a new object in C++ that lives on the stack, (the way I've mostly seen it) you do this:

CDPlayer player;

When you create an object on the heap you call new:

CDPlayer* player = new CDPlayer();

But when you do this:

CDPlayer player=CDPlayer();

it creates a stack based object, but whats the difference between that and the top example?

Best Answer

The difference is important with PODs (basically, all built-in types like int, bool, double etc. plus C-like structs and unions built only from other PODs), for which there is a difference between default initialization and value initialization. For PODs, a simple 

T obj;

will leave obj uninitialized, while T() default-initializes the object. So 

T obj = T();

is a good way to ensure that an object is properly initialized.

This is especially helpful in template code, where T might either a POD or a non-POD type. When you know that T is not a POD type, T obj; suffices.

Addendum: You can also write 

T* ptr = new T; // note the missing ()

(and avoid initialization of the allocated object if T is a POD).

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