Memory leak with std::string when using std::list<std::string>

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I'm working with std::list<std::string> in my current project. But there is a memory leak somewhere connected with this. So I've tested the problematic code separately:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <list>

class Line {
public:
    Line();
    ~Line();
    std::string* mString;
};

Line::Line() {
    mString = new std::string("XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX");
}

Line::~Line() {
    //mString->clear(); // should not be neccessary
    delete mString;
}

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    // no memory leak
    while (1==1) {
        std::string *test = new std::string("XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX");
        delete test;
    }

    // LEAK!
    // This causes a memory overflow, because the string thats added
    // to the list is not deleted when the list is deleted.
    while (1==1) {
        std::list<std::string> *sl = new std::list<std::string>;
        std::string *s = new std::string("XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX");
        sl->push_back(*s);
        //sl->pop_back(); //doesn't delete the string?- just the pointer
        delete sl;
    }

    // LEAK!
    // Here the string IS deleted, but the memory does still fill up
    // but slower
    while (1==1) {
        std::list<Line> *sl = new std::list<Line>;
        Line *s = new Line();
        sl->push_back(*s);
        //sl->pop_back(); //does delete the Line-Element
        sl->clear();
        delete sl;
    }
    return 0;

    // this does not cause any noticable memory leak
    while (1==1) {
        std::list<int> *sl = new std::list<int>;
        int i = 0xFFFF;
        sl->push_back(i);
        sl->clear();
        delete sl;
    }
    return 0;

    // This does not cause any overflow or leak
    while (1==1) {
        int *i;
        i= new int [9999];
        delete[] i;
    }

}

Why does my string list cause a memory leak? Shouldn't deleting the list cause the destructors to be called on each contained string?

5 Answers
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