Setup std::vector in class constructor

Just do:

MyClass::MyClass(int m_size) : size(m_size), vec(m_size, 0)

You already seem to know about initializer lists, why not initialize vector there directly?

vec = new vector<int>(size,0);

is illegal because new returns a pointer and in your case vec is an object.

Your second option:

vector<int> temp(size,0);
vec = temp;

although it compiles, does extra work for no gain. By the time you reach the assignment, two vectors would already have been constructed and discarded afterwards.

The use of vector is legal in your class, the problem is how you initialize it:

#include <vector>

class MyClass {
public:
    MyClass(int m_size);

    // ... more things...
private:
    int size;
    vector<int> vec;
}

You are assigning a pointer to a new vector object, as if this vector object was not initialized.

vec = new vector<int>(size,0);

If you really want this to work, then you should declare your vec object as:

vector<int> * vec;

And don't forget to add a destructor:

MyClass::~MyClass {
    delete vec;
}

Why did it work when you dropped the new particle? Because you are creating a new object vector, and overwriting the one in your class (this does not guarantee the original one to be correctly eliminated, however).

You actually don't need to do that. Your vector object is already initialized (its default constructor called) when you've reached the constructor of MyClass. If you just want to be sure that memory is reserved for size items:

MyClass::MyClass(int m_size): size(m_size) {
    vec.reserve( size );
}

If you want your vector to have size elements, then:

MyClass::MyClass(int m_size): size(m_size), vec(m_size, 0)
    {}

Finally, as one of the commenters points out, size is not actually needed once the vector has been constructed. So you can get rid of the size member:

class MyClass {
public:
    MyClass(int m_size): vec(m_size, 0)
        {}

    unsigned int getSize() const
        { return vec.size(); }

    // ... more things...
private:
    vector<int> vec;
}

Hope this helps.

#include <vector>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <typeinfo>

using std::cout;
using std::endl;
using std::string;
using std::vector;
using std::to_string;

class Parse
{
private:
    string         m_str;
    vector<string> m_vec;
public:
    // Constructor with all defaults (1 of 4 constructors)
    Parse(){ 
        cout << "\ncreating class with all default values\n";
        m_str = "";
        m_vec.push_back("");    
    }

    // Constructor with all cases used
    Parse  (string         &tmp_str,
            vector<string> tmp_vec):

            m_str          (tmp_str),
            m_vec          (tmp_vec)
    {
        cout << "Your vector contains " + to_string(m_str.size()) + " arguments\n";
    }

    // Constructor with other contents given but not vector
    Parse  (string         &tmp_str): 
            m_str          (tmp_str)
    {
        m_vec.push_back("");
    }
    // Constructor with only Vector given but not other contents
    Parse  (vector<string>   tmp_vec):
            m_vec           (tmp_vec)
    {
        m_str = "";
    }

    string get_str_var(){return m_str;}

    void classed_print_vector_strings()
    {
        for (string i : m_vec){ cout << i << " \n";}
    }

};



// rm ./class_vector; g++ class_vector.cpp -o class_vector -std=c++17; ./class_vector arg1 arg2 arg3

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    // turn **argv to a vector
    vector<string> args(argv, argv + argc);
    // iterate from argv through argv+argc

    // initialize with default arguments.
    Parse tracker1;
    // initalize with all used arguments
    Parse tracker2(args[0], args);
    // initalize with only the vector
    Parse tracker3(args);
    // initalzie without the vector, but with another arg
    Parse tracker4(args[0]);

    cout << "\nTracker 1 ---------------------\n";
    tracker1.classed_print_vector_strings();
    cout << "\nTracker 2 ---------------------\n";
    tracker2.classed_print_vector_strings();
    cout << "\nTracker 3 ---------------------\n";
    tracker3.classed_print_vector_strings();
    cout << "\nTracker 4 ---------------------\n";
    tracker4.classed_print_vector_strings();


    return 0;
}

rm ./class_vector; g++ class_vector.cpp -o class_vector -std=c++17; ./class_vector arg1 arg2 arg3

This will show you how to create a class that will give you the option to initialize the class with or without the vector with other arguments present and/or not present.