C pointer to objects

Question

Is it always necessary in C++ to use the new keyword to initialise a reference to an object?

Can you please have this as well:

MyClass *myclass;

myclass->DoSomething();

I assumed this was a pointer allocated on the stack rather than the heap, but because objects are typically heap-allocated, I believe my idea is probably incorrect?

Please provide guidance.

Answer 1

No, pointers to stack-allocated objects are permitted:

MyClass *myclass;
MyClass c;
myclass = & c;
myclass->DoSomething();

This is of course common when using pointers as function parameters:

void f( MyClass * p ) {
    p->DoSomething();
}

int main() {
    MyClass c;
    f( & c );
}

However, the pointer must always be initialised in some fashion. 

Your code is:

MyClass *myclass;
myclass->DoSomething();