c++ . When to delete a C-style array to free memory

Question

I wrote a code to convert kilos to pounds and stone. A snippet is shown below.

float *weightoutput =  weight_conversion(weight);

with the function as below. I used a C-style array,

float* weight_conversion(float x){

float *stones_pounds = new float[2];  //C-style array 
float z, y;
z = x*0.15747304441776971; // (1 stone = 6.3503 kilo)
y = x*2.2026;              // (1 kilo = 2.2026 pounds)
stones_pounds[0] = z;
stones_pounds[1] = y;

return stones_pounds;
}     

I have read in multiple posts that if you use "new", you have to use to "delete" to free up memory.The question I have is, how could I delete stones_pounds in this setup. Since stones_pounds is used till the last line within the function in return, i don't think i can use delete [] stones_pounds within the function. Since it is not a global variable, i cannot delete it within the main function as well. So how do I go about using the delete[] operator to free up memory? Is the only alternative changing the structure of the code to facilitate the delete[] operator?

Answer 1

std::array is probably a better choice for what you want then using new or delete in this example.

With that said, you return the new -ed pointer and store the result as float *weightoutput . To free the memory, you should call delete on that when you're done with it via delete [] weightoutput; .