Beyond the C++ Standard Library: An Introduction to Boost [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Smart_ptr Summary

This chapter has introduced the Boost smart pointers, a contribution to the C++ community that can hardly be overestimated. For a smart pointer library to be successful, it must take into consideration and correctly handle a great number of factors. I'm sure you have seen quite a number of smart pointers, and you might have even been involved in their creation, so you are aware of the effort involved to get things right. Not many smart pointers are as smart as they should be, and that makes the value of a proven library such as Boost.Smart_ptr immense.

Being such a central component of software engineering, the smart pointers in Boost have obviously received a lot of attention and thorough review. It is therefore hard to give credit to all who deserve it. Many have contributed valuable opinions and have been part of shaping the current smart pointer library. However, a few exceptional people and efforts must be mentioned here:

Greg Colvin, the father of auto_ptr, also suggested counted_ptr, which later became what we now call shared_ptr.

Beman Dawes revived the discussion about smart pointers and proposed that the original semantics as suggested by Greg Colvin be considered.

Peter Dimov redesigned the smart pointer classes, adding thread safety, intrusive_ptr, and weak_ptr.

It is intriguing that such a well-known concept continues to evolve. There will undoubtedly be more progress in the domain of smart pointers or maybe, smart resources, but just as important is the quality of smart pointers that are used today. It's survival of the fittest, and that's why people are using Smart_ptr. The Boost smart pointers are a fine, assorted selection of delicious software chocolate, and I eat them regularly (you should, too). We'll soon see some of them become part of the C++ Standard Library, as they have been accepted into the Library Technical Report.