What is the purpose of the new operator?

The "new" operator is used in programming languages to allocate memory for a new object and instantiate (create) it. When you create an object in a programming language such as C++, Java, or JavaScript, you use the "new" operator to allocate memory space for that object and initialize its properties.

The primary purpose of using the "new" operator is: 1. Allocating memory space for the object. 2. Creating an instance of the object's class. 3. Initializing the object's properties and methods. By using the "new" operator, the program makes sure there's enough memory allocated for the object, which helps prevent issues such as memory leaks and out-of-memory errors.

Let's consider a simple example using the "new" operator in JavaScript to create an object of the "Person" class: ```javascript class Person { constructor(name, age) { this.name = name; this.age = age; } sayHello() { console.log("Hello, my name is " + this.name); } } // Using the 'new' operator to instantiate a new object of the Person class let person1 = new Person("Alice", 30); // Accessing properties and methods of the object console.log(person1.name); // Outputs: Alice console.log(person1.age); // Outputs: 30 person1.sayHello(); // Outputs: Hello, my name is Alice ``` In this example, we use the "new" operator to create an instance of the Person class and initialize its properties (name and age) and the sayHello method. After doing this, we can then access and manipulate the object's properties and methods.