Smart pointers in C ++ API?

Question

Quite often, it is suggested not to use the source pointers in modern C ++, with the exception of a few rare cases. What is the common practice of using smart pointers in the C ++ library APIs?

The following use cases come to my mind:

• A function that returns a new object.
• A function that returns a new object, but also created another reference to this object.
• A function that uses only the object that receives as an argument.
• A function that takes ownership of an object.
• A function that will store a link to the object that it received as an argument, but there may be other links to the same object (from the callers).

Answer 1

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Answer 2

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Answer 3

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