Why does C++ allow variable length arrays that aren't dynamically allocated?
- by Maulrus
I'm relatively new to C++, and from the beginning it's been drilled into me that you can't do something like
int x;
cin >> x;
int array[x];
Instead, you must use dynamic memory. However, I recently discovered that the above will compile (though I get a -pedantic warning saying it's forbidden by ISO C++). I know that it's obviously a bad idea to do it if it's not allowed by the standard, but I previously didn't even know this was possible.
My question is, why does g++ allow variable length arrays that aren't dynamically allocated if it's not allowed by the standard? Also, if it's possible for the compiler to do it, why isn't it in the standard?
