Std::unique_ptr
std::unique_ptr is a C++ standard-library smart pointer that provides exclusive ownership of a dynamically allocated object and manages its lifetime.
100 C++ Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
std::unique_ptr is a C++ standard-library smart pointer that provides exclusive ownership of a dynamically allocated object or array and automatically manages its lifetime.
- How it is used
- Uses exclusive ownership to replace raw-pointer resource management and simplify exception-safe lifetime handling.
- How deep it goes
- Explains object and array ownership, destructor removal, make_unique construction, and std::move transfer, but not custom deleters.
- Examples
- Demonstrates Buffer objects, dynamically allocated arrays, a raw-pointer double delete, and transfer between two unique_ptr instances.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via std::make_unique and std::move to construct, own, and transfer dynamically allocated objects or arrays.
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Learn C++ by Example
std::unique_ptr is a C++ standard library smart pointer that exclusively owns a dynamically allocated object and destroys it when ownership ends.
- How it is used
- Manages exclusive dynamic ownership in containers, polymorphic objects, and coroutine tasks.
- How deep it goes
- Explains RAII, deletion, copying, moving, member access, containers, and custom deleters, but not implementation internals.
- Examples
- Uses smart-pointer vectors, a polymorphic blob race, make_unique construction, and coroutine-handle cleanup.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via the C++ standard library to express exclusive ownership and automatic cleanup, including custom destruction.
Related concepts
- std::threadequivalent to · A C++ standard library class that represents and manages a thread of execution.
- std::shared_ptralternative to · std::shared_ptr is a C++ standard-library smart pointer that enables multiple owners to share ownership of a dynamically allocated object.
- exclusive ownershipimplements · Exclusive ownership is a property in which one party has sole control or responsibility for a specified resource, right, work, or property.
- std::moveuses · std::move is a C++ standard-library function template that casts an expression to an rvalue reference, enabling move operations.
- resource acquisition is initializationimplements · Resource acquisition is initialization (RAII) is a resource-management pattern that ties resource ownership and release to the lifetime of an object or scope.
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