The difference between delete and delete[] in C++ [duplicate]

Question

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delete vs delete[] operators in C++

I've written a class that contains two pointers, one is char* color_ and one in vertexesset* vertex_ where vertexesset is a class I created. In the destractor I've written at start

delete [] color_; delete [] vertex_; 

When It came to the destructor it gave me a segmentation fault.

Then I changed the destructor to:

delete [] color_; delete vertex_; 

And now it works fine. What is the difference between the two?

Answer 1

You delete [] when you newed an array type, and delete when you didn't. Examples:

typedef int int_array[10];  int* a = new int; int* b = new int[10]; int* c = new int_array;  delete a; delete[] b; delete[] c; // this is a must! even if the new-line didn't use []. 

Answer 2

delete and delete[] are not the same thing! Wikipedia explains this, if briefly. In short, delete [] invokes the destructor on every element in the allocated array, while delete assumes you have exactly one instance. You should allocate arrays with new foo[] and delete them with delete[]; for ordinary objects, use new and delete. Using delete[] on a non-array could lead to havoc.