Comments on: C++ and the bad_alloc exception http://elliottback.com/wp/c-and-the-bad_alloc-exception/ Internet & Technology Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:40:56 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Matthias Hofmann http://elliottback.com/wp/c-and-the-bad_alloc-exception/#comment-59516 Matthias Hofmann Sun, 28 May 2006 21:04:00 +0000 http://elliottback.com/wp/?p=904#comment-59516 Quote: "Calling [] on a vector apparently returns *(begin() + offset), which when the offset is larger than the size points to invalid memory." And that yields undefined behaviour, which means that anything can happen, including a bad_alloc exception being thrown. This is no way to "invoke that behaviour", and it does not contradict the standard either. It's simply a blunt mistake that should not happen, just like dereferencing a NULL pointer. Quote: “Calling [] on a vector apparently returns *(begin() + offset), which when the offset is larger than the size points to invalid memory.”

And that yields undefined behaviour, which means that anything can happen, including a bad_alloc exception being thrown. This is no way to “invoke that behaviour”, and it does not contradict the standard either. It’s simply a blunt mistake that should not happen, just like dereferencing a NULL pointer.

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