C++ program crashes

[trent.josephsen]

It might not crash if you create it with new, but that's just avoiding the real problem, which is located between your keyboard and chair.

If and when you someday need to handle a very large array, you'll probably be suitably equipped to deal with the consequences at that point. Right now you should focus on learning to program and not get involved in the details of one implementation's built-in limits.

[xb12x]

It might not crash if you create it with new, but that's just avoiding the real problem, which is located between your keyboard and chair.

If and when you someday need to handle a very large array, you'll probably be suitably equipped to deal with the consequences at that point. Right now you should focus on learning to program and not get involved in the details of one implementation's built-in limits.

You probably didn't mean to sound harsh, but your answer could be construed as a little off the mark, don't you think?

Lymphocyte asked why his code didn't work and others with more experience pointed out his attempted use of the stack.

[trent.josephsen]

Harsh, yes. Off the mark, no.

It's true that the (most likely) immediate cause of the problem is trying to create a data structure larger than the stack can hold. But that's an implementation detail that programmers shouldn't have to worry about under normal circumstances. It's really irrelevant because practically, the solution is to not depend on very large data structures.

It's a bit like debating whether to use an int or a float to store some numeric amount. Yes, there are built-in limits that constrain what you can do with those types. But when a new programmer asks "Should I use an int or a float to store amounts of money?" the best response isn't "Well, the maximum value of an int is 2147483647, and..." The best response is "What makes sense?"

Let's not confuse giving information with teaching.

[11jmb]

But when a new programmer asks "Should I use an int or a float to store amounts of money?" the best response isn't "Well, the maximum value of an int is 2147483647, and..." The best response is "What makes sense?"

Obviously the answer is to use integers because fixed-point arithmetic is usually faster than floating-point. Beginners should always remember to optimize first, and think later

On a more serious note, I understand your intent, but I'd hate to see a beginner leave this community because they mistook your teaching for an insult.

[trent.josephsen]

I take your point and I will moderate my vitriol in the future. OP, I apologize for the offensiveness in my tone.

[SirWhy]

I had to comment on this..... 30 million elements? Damn, that's a lot of memory usage. I'm interested in knowing why you needed that many. When I learned about arrays it was to display my name or similar.

I also concur with allocating it onto the heap but even then.... 30 million....

[the_unforgiven]

I had to comment on this..... 30 million elements? Damn, that's a lot of memory usage. I'm interested in knowing why you needed that many. When I learned about arrays it was to display my name or similar.

I also concur with allocating it onto the heap but even then.... 30 million....

30M may SOUND a lot, but in terms of memory usage, it entirely depends on what is it that's being stored.

For example, 30M of long longs (8bytes) amounts to only 240MBytes of memory - which is not all that much considering the address space of a typical process on 32-bit platform is 4GBytes. You could easily accommodate 240MBytes on heap.

I'm sure there are use-cases that gobble up memory in GBs at a time - like CAD apps or video editors or even some games.

[11jmb]

As has been pointed out before, OP's superficial mistake was declaring a large sequential array on the stack, but I can't think of a solution where using 30e6 element array is useful. Of course a large, complex program might command larger amounts of memory, but the point that people on this thread have made is that declaring a such a large array is probably a poor way to solve any problem

[Lymphocyte]

i wasnt insulted, it was probably a dumb question outside of real world usage. I was just wondering why the program crashed

[|{urse]

I see a lot of people being snobby, sure, it's not good practice to create an array that large but that's how people learn new things. Telling OP the problem exists between the keyboard and chair only shows your arrogance, not OP's ignorance. I will lmao when he/she invents a new method for memory management and you look like a simpleton.