Smart pointers

problem-of-the-day/day26/dev.md

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+# C++ Smart Pointers
+
+## Introduction
+Smart pointers are a feature of C++ that allows for more robust memory management. They ensure automatic and appropriate destruction of dynamically allocated memory, preventing memory leaks and other common memory management errors.
+
+## Types of Smart Pointers
+- `unique_ptr`: Allows exactly one owner of the underlying pointer.
+- `shared_ptr`: Allows multiple owners of the same pointer; the pointer is destroyed when the last owner goes out of scope.
+- `weak_ptr`: Complements `shared_ptr` by holding a non-owning reference to an object that is managed by `shared_ptr`.
+
+## Benefits
+- Automatic memory management.
+- Prevention of memory leaks.
+- Can be used to implement sophisticated data structures like linked lists, graphs etc!
+
+## Resources
+- [C++ Smart Pointers - cppreference.com](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/memory)
+- [Smart Pointers in C++ - GeeksforGeeks](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/smart-pointers-cpp/)
+- [Understanding Smart Pointers in C++ - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOB7-B2MfwA)
+
+## Conclusion
+Understanding and utilizing smart pointers effectively can greatly enhance your C++ programming skills and contribute to writing clean, efficient, and safe code.