Is the pointer holding dynamic variable in the stack or heap?

Question

I want to get something clear that I found most sources so confusing.

For example,

int *a=new int;

Is "a" in stack or heap, and what about "*a"? Most sources I found only refer to heap, I really need an extremely concrete answer. I would be really grateful.

Answer 1

a is in the stack. When the scope of a ends, a is not usable.

*a is in the heap. Even after the scope of a ends, the object that a points to continues to live unless the memory is deallocated before that.