C++ Private structure and non static const variables initialization

Question

I totally disappointed. I have class, there I have private structure. And what's the silly problem: I just can't preinitialize some variables!
What I mean:
I need:

struct someStruct
    {
        someStruct *next = NULL;
        int number;
    };

I just want to create easy dynamic list, adding new elements from heap.
And what I should do?

struct someStruct
    {
        someStruct *next;
        int number;
    };

Put

someStruct *newElement = new someStruct;
newElement.next = NULL;

every time? I can forget about this.
Please help me. Because it's not a problem when I need to add 1 useless string. But what if I have 50 default variables?

Answer 1

You cannot initialize class members when you declare them. Instead, you need a constructor :

struct someStruct {
    someStruct(): next(NULL), number(0) {}
    someStruct *next;
    int number;
};

Alternatively, for POD (plain old data) , you could use your original class with no constructors and use someStruct *newElement = new someStruct(); to create a someStruct . This initializes the members to zero.

Also, C++11 supports in-class member initializers .