THINK++ — Engineering Visualized

Automatic Memory

Smart Pointers

Modern C++ (C++11+) wrappers around raw pointers that automatically manage memory. They call delete for you when the pointer is no longer needed.

unique_ptr

Exclusive ownership. Cannot be copied, only moved.

shared_ptr

Shared ownership. Uses reference counting.

weak_ptr

Points to shared_ptr but doesn't increase ref count.

THE MODERN WAY

#include <memory>

auto ptr = make_unique<MyClass>();
// Memory freed automatically when ptr goes out of scope!

RULE OF THUMB

In modern C++, you should ALMOST NEVER use raw new and delete. Smart pointers eliminate whole categories of memory leaks and bugs.

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