How to allocate a 2D array of pointers in C++

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By the letter of the law, here’s how to do it:

// Create 2D array of pointers:
int*** array2d = new (int**)[rows];
for (int i = 0; i < rows; ++i) {
  array2d[i] = new (int*)[cols];
}

// Null out the pointers contained in the array:
for (int i = 0; i < rows; ++i) {
  for (int j = 0; j < cols; ++j) {
    array2d[i][j] = NULL;
  }
}

Be careful to delete the contained pointers, the row arrays, and the column array all separately and in the correct order.

However, more frequently in C++ you’d create a class that internally managed a 1D array of pointers and overload the function call operator to provide 2D indexing. That way you’re really have a contiguous array of pointers, rather than an array of arrays of pointers.

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