Back to Basics: Smart Pointers
summary
Explains how C++ smart pointers actually work: unique_ptr holds a raw pointer and a deleter (used to wrap C APIs like OpenSSL), shared_ptr stores a separate control block with atomic refcounts and possibly the deleter and pointer-to-delete, and weak_ptr.lock() returns a safe shared_ptr checked for expiry. Recommends make_shared optimization (single allocation), passing smart pointers by value, using enable_shared_from_this (CRTP) when an object must obtain its own shared_ptr.
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chapters (14)
- 0:00Introduction to smart pointers
- 1:02Types and basic syntax
- 3:47Unique pointer
- 8:17Custom deleters
- 10:09Implementing custom deleters
- 14:20Smart pointer best practices
- 17:49Shared pointer concepts
- 21:46Shared pointer internals
- 28:22Factory functions
- 33:55Weak pointer functionality
- 37:19Redeeming weak pointers
- 42:58Enable shared from this
- 47:11Networking example
- 52:19Conclusion and Q&A
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