C++ library says to delete data that it allocates

[Jonathan M Davis]

On Monday, September 23, 2013 01:12:55 w0rp wrote:
> On Sunday, 22 September 2013 at 23:09:52 UTC, Charles Hixson
> 
> wrote:
> > I'm trying to use a C++ library that allocates data and returns
> > a pointer to it.  It tells me that I should delete the data
> > when I'm through with it.
> > 
> > Can I do this from within D?  Or do I need to write some C++
> > code to manage the delete, and pass the pointer on to it?
> 
> You can't use delete straight from D, so I'd write the delete in
> C++ and pass the pointer back to C++, like you say.

Yeah. Memory needs to be freed by the same allocator that allocated it, as 
that's the allocator that manages it (e.g. if C's malloc allocated the memory, 
then C's free must free it, or if C++'s new allocated it, then C++'s delete 
must free it). So, if C++ code allocated something, it's going to have to be 
C++ code which frees it (though that could be managed by some kind of smart 
pointer in D which called a C++ function to free the memory when the smart 
pointer determined that the memory needed to be freed).

- Jonathan M Davis