重定向指针会导致内存泄漏吗？

Question

I have two pointers:

int *a = new int;
int *b = new int;

Now I set b equal to a :

b=a;

My concern is about the memory that b was initially pointing at. When I redirect b to point to the memory that a points to and both point to the same memory location. What about the previous memory location of b, is it freed or it is in memory leak?

To prevent memory leak should I do it this way:

delete b;
b=a;

Answer 1

It's a leak.

You should use smart pointers instead.

Answer 2

It's a memory leak. You didn't delete what you new -ed as b no longer points at the original location. Try this:

int* a = new int;
int* b = new int;
int* originalb = b;
b = a;
delete originalb;
delete b; // or a

given that a and b remain the same.
That being said prefer smart pointers , containers and RAII to raw pointers.