Class members that are objects - Pointers or not? C++

Question

If I create a class MyClass and it has some private member say MyOtherClass, is it better to make MyOtherClass a pointer or not? What does it mean also to have it as not a

Answer 1

It depends... :-)

If you use pointers to say a class A, you have to create the object of type A e.g. in the constructor of your class

 m_pA = new A();

Moreover, don't forget to destroy the object in the destructor or you have a memory leak:

delete m_pA; 
m_pA = NULL;

Instead, having an object of type A aggregated in your class is easier, you can't forget to destroy it, because this is done automatically at the end of lifetime of your object.

On the other hand, having a pointer has the following advantages:

• If your object is allocated on the stack and type A uses a lot of memory this won't be allocated from the stack but from the heap.

• You can construct your A object later (e.g. in a method Create) or destroy it earlier (in method Close)