C++ 11 Smart Pointer usage

Question

I have a question about smart pointers in c++ 11. I've started to have a look at C++ 11 (I usualy program in c#) and read some thing about smart pointers. Now i have the question, does smart pointers completely replace the "old" style of pointers, should i always use them?

The unique_ptr seems to solve all problems with memory management in C++, or am i wrong?

For example:

std::unique_ptr<GameManager> game (new GameManager());

game->Start();

Seems to be much smarter than:

auto *game2 = new GameManager();

game2->Start();

delete game2;

Thank you, i am a little bit confused!

Answer 1

For the usage shown, while the unique_ptr is better than a raw pointer as it indicates ownership of the allocated resources, you probably shouldn't use any kind of pointer at all. Instead just declare a local:

GameManager game;
game.Start();

This may not suffice if the ownership may have to be given to something else, whereas the ownership of a unique_ptr can easily be transferred.

Answer 2

To answer your question: yes, they do solve memory management problems.

It is considered good style to use them as much as possible.

They eliminate many possible programming errors, and reduce the difficulty of creating correct code with pointers.

To go even further, it is considered good to change

std::unique_ptr<GameManager> game (new GameManager());

To:

std::unique_ptr<GameManager> game (std::make_unique<GameManager>());