C++ Vector of pointers

C++ Vector of pointers

It means something like this:

std::vector<Movie *> movies;

Then you add to the vector as you read lines:

movies.push_back(new Movie(...));

Remember to delete all of the Movie* objects once you are done with the vector.

As far as I understand, you create a Movie class:

class Movie
{
private:
  std::string _title;
  std::string _director;
  int         _year;
  int         _rating;
  std::vector<std::string> actors;
};

and having such class, you create a vector instance:

std::vector<Movie*> movies;

so, you can add any movie to your movies collection. Since you are creating a vector of pointers to movies, do not forget to free the resources allocated by your movie instances OR you could use some smart pointer to deallocate the movies automatically:

std::vector<shared_ptr<Movie>> movies;

C++ Vector of pointers

By dynamically allocating a Movie object with new Movie(), you get a pointer to the new object. You do not need a second vector for the movies, just store the pointers and you can access them. Like Brian wrote, the vector would be defined as

std::vector<Movie *> movies

But be aware that the vector will not delete your objects afterwards, which will result in a memory leak. It probably doesnt matter for your homework, but normally you should delete all pointers when you dont need them anymore.