OSNews

I learned C++ about seven years ago, when smart pointers weren't well known; these days I mainly use Java, Delphi plus one other scripting language (currently hovering between PHP and Perl, though I'd love to look at Ruby if I get the chance).

I've avoided C++ for the most part, I think it's an awful jumble of a language (you know you've got problems when you have four casting methods to choose from). As a result I've never used smart pointers. I will say, though, that a C++ programmer still needs to be acutely aware of how memory works to ensure their application doesn't leak anything: using auto_ptr<> with lists of objects shared across the application, for example, can result in nasty surprises, e.g.

void crazyFunc()
{
auto_ptr<MyClass*> mc = new MyClass();
auto_ptr<MyList*> list = myOtherClass->MyList;
list->add (mc);
}

void crashInBurnBaby()
{
auto_ptr<MyList*> list = myOtherClass->MyList;
cout << dynamic_cast<MyClass*> (list[0])->attr;
}

The obvious solution is to have a good hard look at the smart pointers available to you (e.g. http://www.boost.org/libs/smart_ptr/smart_ptr.htm), or else use normal pointers or references in certain areas, but at that rather complex point, aren't you - the developer - working quite hard to avoid leaking memory?