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copied!<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_pointer" rel="noreferrer">Smart pointer</a> is a pointer-like type with some additional functionality, e.g. automatic memory deallocation, reference counting etc.</p> <p>Small intro is available on page <a href="http://ootips.org/yonat/4dev/smart-pointers.html" rel="noreferrer">Smart Pointers - What, Why, Which?</a>.</p> <p>One of the simple smart-pointer type is <a href="http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/memory/auto_ptr" rel="noreferrer"><code>std::auto_ptr</code></a> (chapter 20.4.5 of C++ standard), which allows to deallocate memory automatically when it out of scope and which is more robust than simple pointer usage when exceptions are thrown, although less flexible.</p> <p>Another convenient type is <a href="http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_36_0/libs/smart_ptr/shared_ptr.htm" rel="noreferrer"><code>boost::shared_ptr</code></a> which implements reference counting and automatically deallocates memory when no references to object remains. This helps avoiding memory leaks and is easy to use to implement <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_Acquisition_Is_Initialization" rel="noreferrer">RAII</a>.</p> <p>Subject is covered in depth in book <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0201734842" rel="noreferrer">"C++ Templates: The Complete Guide" by David Vandevoorde, Nicolai M. Josuttis</a>, chapter Chapter 20. Smart Pointers. Some topics covered:</p> <ul> <li>Protecting Against Exceptions</li> <li>Holders, (note, <a href="http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/memory/auto_ptr" rel="noreferrer">std::auto_ptr</a> is implementation of such type of smart pointer)</li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_acquisition_is_initialization" rel="noreferrer">Resource Acquisition Is Initialization</a> (This is frequently used for exception-safe resource management in C++)</li> <li>Holder Limitations</li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_counting" rel="noreferrer">Reference Counting</a></li> <li>Concurrent Counter Access</li> <li>Destruction and Deallocation</li> </ul>

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