Visual studio debugger is a wonderful invention. See how it can show memory leaks (memory not properly de allocated) on exiting a program.
#include "afx.h"
// To show the memory leaks on exit
#ifdef _DEBUG
#define new DEBUG_NEW
#undef THIS_FILE
static char THIS_FILE[] = __FILE__;
#endif
int main()
{
char* str = new char[10]; // This won't be deallocated
return 0;
}
See the following screen shot.
If DEBUG_NEW (defined in afx.h) is used, memory will be allocated in on a memory tracking basis (in the debug version).
You have to declare the above block in each file you need memory tracking.
Some Background Info
VC++ debugger defines some magic values for each type of memory location allocated.
0XCDCDCDCD – Memory allocated in heap, but not initialized
0xDDDDDDDD – Heap memory released
0xFDFDFDFD – Specifies the boundary of heap memory. It should not be overwritten as it designated the end.
0XCCCCCCCC – Memory allocated in stack, but not initialized.
Posted by cppkid 
