Dynamic Arrays of Objects (Data Structures course, step-by-step)

In this video you will learn how to create both static and dynamic arrays of objects, how to insert data, copy from one array to another, and of course how to delete data from an array of objects. One very important topic that we will discuss in this video is memory management and how your application is using resources where I will point out some of the common mistakes. We will also learn the difference between deep and shallow copying of data, which is very important when working with arrays of objects and can be very tricky if you don't know it well. For that, I will show you different techniques like using built-in "memcpy" function as well as working with loops.
As always, there are a few practical tasks included in this video just waiting for you to solve them so be sure to share your solution with others down in the comment section. Put on your learning hat and join me in this detailed video but also stay tuned for upcoming parts of this serial, because I'm probably working on them as you are watching this :D.

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Contents:
00:00 Summary of what you'll learn (Dynamic Memory and Arrays of Objects)
02:46 Example showcase
03:28 Creation of static array of objects
04:00 Why do we need dynamic arrays?
04:38 Creation of dynamic array of objects
06:55 Difference between static and dynamic arrays
08:44 Deallocating memory
10:42 Visual example of memory allocation (how arrays are allocated)
12:29 Tools for code analyzing
13:05 Entering data in an array using loops
16:42 Arrays and functions (passing a dynamic array into a function)
21:12 Changing size of the dynamic array at runtime (visual explanation)
26:40 Changing the size of the dynamic array at runtime (code example)
28:24 Copying elements from one array to another using "memcpy" function
30:32 Copying elements from one array to another using loops
31:50 Adjusting existing logic
34:43 Practical task for you (with instructions)
37:50 Problem with "memcpy" function
41:00 Deep copy VS Shallow copy
44:16 Second practical task for you
45:41 Final words

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*******CODE IS IN THE COMMENTS*******

[CodeBeauty]

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**CODE FROM THE VIDEO**

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

class Student {
public:
string Name;
int Age;
char Gender;
float ProgrammingGrade;
};

void printStudents(Student* students, int size) {
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
cout << "STUDENT " << i + 1 << "\t";
cout << students[i].Name << "\t";
cout << students[i].Age << "\t";
cout << students[i].Gender << "\t";
cout << students[i].ProgrammingGrade << "\n";
}
}
int main()
{
int size;
cout << "Number of students: ";
cin >> size;

Student* students = new Student[size];

for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
cout << "STUDENT " << i + 1 << endl;

Student s;
cout << "Name: ";
cin >> s.Name;
cout << "Age: ";
cin >> s.Age;
cout << "Gender: ";
cin >> s.Gender;
cout << "Programming grade: ";
cin >> s.ProgrammingGrade;

students[i] = s;
}

char choice;
cout << "Do you want a bigger array?";
cin >> choice;
if (choice == 'n' || choice == 'N') {
delete[]students;
return 0;
}

int newSize;
cout << "Enter new size: ";
cin >> newSize;

Student* newStudents = new Student[newSize];
//memcpy(newStudents, students, sizeof(Student) * size);
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
newStudents[i] = students[i];
}

delete[]students;
students = newStudents;

for (int i = size; i < newSize; i++) {
cout << "STUDENT " << i + 1 << endl;

Student s;
cout << "Name: ";
cin >> s.Name;
cout << "Age: ";
cin >> s.Age;
cout << "Gender: ";
cin >> s.Gender;
cout << "Programming grade: ";
cin >> s.ProgrammingGrade;

students[i] = s;
}

printStudents(students, newSize);

delete[] students;
cin.get();

}

[heikin]

Thank you so much for this free lesson. I can finally finish my project about array insertion and deletion, with the knowledge i gained here

[aaronsj]

I like that you covered how the string is a pointer and also that you talked about the size of the student class. I noticed on the spreadsheet your addresses for each element were consecutive bytes, so it's good that you clarified it when getting to the copy code.

[omercandemirci]

Thanks saldina for your helps. As an turkish electrical engineer student which want to learn Computer science, it is Hard to me learn something due to my language. Your language and explanation so clear that I can comprehend all what you want to teach in video. You are not just programmer teacher for me but also english teacher. ❤

[D]

the explanation about memcpy, deep and shallow copy was 🔥

[tumwesigyeisaac]

hi Saldina, am an electrical engineering student at Kabale university in Uganda.
i love the way you deliver programming content, you really made me fall in love with programing though am pursuing electrical engineering

[carmelostagno]

if the course you are preparing will be like these videos, then I can't wait. Thanks Saldina!

[handover]

I want to see more videos like this.
Thanks Saldina.

[lickguitars]

Thank you for this concise tutorial on dynamic arrays! It made the concept much clearer for me, and im sure it will benefit others too

[xmirgvu]

Thanks a lot! I have learned much C++ skills from you, I love you CodeBeauty!

[kamyarbasiri]

I'm looking forward watching the video

[swbqrkc]

great job, thank you Saldina, this is very helpful <3

[deanmorrison]

very helpful, thank you so much <3

[carlosalbertoavilapalacios]

Hi Saldina. Thanks for this video. Do you know of any extension for plotting data in Visual Studio 2022, for example, plotting a data array of velocity versus time? Excuse me for the question that is off-topic from the video. Thanks for your time. Best regards

[rezafarokh]

34:43 Practical task for you (with instructions)

Student* getInput(Student* students, int start, int end) {

for (int i = start;i < end; i++) {
cout << "enter info of STUDENT " << i+1 << " name, age, gender, grade: ";
cin >> students[i].Name >> students[i].Age >>
students[i].Gender >> students[i].ProgrammingGrade;
cout << "\n";
}

return students;
}

[vetledeilkas]

When the program exits, all memory (both on the stack and on the heap) is deallocated automatically. So to delete the memory right before the program exits makes no difference, although it is good practice!
Also, with the practice example, there's no need to return a pointer to the array of students, as you pass the pointer to the students array as an argument to the function. Returning void is sufficient. The same array will be modified in the function as the memory of the array is passed to the function.

Please correct me if I said something wrong! Overall very good video!

[lpmc]

do you have any suggestion of projects that are job-ready and worth to be added on a cv in order to apply for jobs? I'm struggling in finding project ideas and can't come up with any on my own, and "to do list" type of projects I assume they aren't job ready

[MikeysLab]

What is the efficency difference between changing student name to a fixed primitive (char Name[32]) and using memcpy, over doing a deep copy. The deep copy seems extremely inefficent especially in an embedded environment.

[nicholaskomsa]

there is some std STL object, std::array, which would be used in place of a depreciated sort of c-array

[valjo]

Would you provide pastebin of above code or we should put an efford and try rewrite in our IDE Saldina?