New Operator vs. Operator New: What's the Difference?

New Operator vs. Operator New

When dealing with memory management in C , understanding the distinction between the "new operator" and "operator new" is crucial.

Operator New

Operator new is a built-in function that allocates raw memory. Conceptually similar to malloc(), it returns a void pointer to the allocated memory. Unlike malloc(), operator new can be called directly with explicit memory allocation requests:

void *x = operator new(100);

Furthermore, operator new can be overloaded globally or for specific classes to customize memory allocation. This is typically done to handle special cases or implement custom memory management strategies.

New Operator

The new operator is utilized to dynamically create an object of a specified type in the free store. It combines operator new and the constructor of the class to perform the following actions:

1. Allocates memory using operator new.
2. Invokes the constructor for the object to initialize it.
3. Returns a pointer to the newly created object.

To create an object using the new operator:

my_class *x = new my_class(0);

Key Differences

Operator new:

• Allocates raw memory only.
• Can be called directly or overloaded.
• Returns a void pointer.

New operator:

• Allocates memory using operator new.
• Invokes the constructor to create an object.
• Returns a pointer to the instantiated object.

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