Does allocating memory and then releasing constitute a side effect in a C++ program?

Question

Inspired by this question about whether the compiler can optimize away a call to a function without side effects. Suppose I have the following code:

delete[]         


        

Answer 1

new[] and delete[] could ultimately result in system calls. Additionally, new[] might throw. With this in mind, I don't see how the new-delete sequence can be legitimately considered free from side effects and optimized away.

(Here, I assume no overloading of new[] and delete[] is involved.)