FAQ 28.02 Are arrays good or evil?

Arrays are evil. They have their place in some specialized applications, but they should be avoided.

The most common mistake with container classes is failing to use them and substituting arrays instead. Unfortunately, this is not only a fairly common mistake, it's also a very dangerous mistake. Arrays simply aren't safe. They're pointers in disguise, and pointers aren't safe. Yes, Grandma used pointers and survived, but given the relative size and complexity of today's software systems and given all the other things that need to be handled, raw pointers or arrays generally aren't worth the risk. Instead pointers and arrays should be wrapped inside a safe interface a container class.

Avoid using arrays and pointers. Use container classes instead.