smartPointers

Writing leak-free and fault-free C++

Here we have five code snippets that will benefit from using smart pointers. By replacing every explicit new with make_unique or make_shared, (alternatively by explicitly instantiating smart pointers) we will fix memory leaks, segmentation faults, and make most cleanup code unnecessary.

Prerequisites

• Do you know which kind of pointer is used for what?
  • Raw pointer
  • std::unique_ptr
  • std::shared_ptr
• C++-14 for std::make_unique / std::make_shared. Understand what these functions do.
• Helpful: Move semantics for problem2(), but one can do without.

Instructions

• In the essentials course, work on problem1 and problem2, and fix the leaks using smart pointers.
• In the advanced course, work on problem1 to problem5. Skip problem4 and problem5 if you don't have enough time.
• Dedicated instructions are given in each cpp file.
• Each one is written so that you easily check if the problem is solved or not.
• If seen in course before, you are also advised to try external tools such as valgrind:

valgrind --leak-check=full --track-origins=yes ./problem1