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doc: mention smart pointers in Cpp style guide #17055

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25 changes: 25 additions & 0 deletions CPP_STYLE_GUIDE.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
* [`nullptr` instead of `NULL` or `0`](#nullptr-instead-of-null-or-0)
* [Do not include `*.h` if `*-inl.h` has already been included](#do-not-include-h-if--inlh-has-already-been-included)
* [Avoid throwing JavaScript errors in nested C++ methods](#avoid-throwing-javascript-errors-in-nested-c-methods)
* [Ownership and Smart Pointers](#ownership-and-smart-pointers)

Unfortunately, the C++ linter (based on
[Google’s `cpplint`](https://github.com/google/styleguide)), which can be run
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -168,3 +169,27 @@ A lot of code inside Node.js is written so that typechecking etc. is performed
in JavaScript.

Using C++ `throw` is not allowed.

## Ownership and Smart Pointers

"Smart" pointers are classes that act like pointers, e.g.
by overloading the `*` and `->` operators. Some smart pointer types can be
used to automate ownership bookkeeping, to ensure these responsibilities are
met. `std::unique_ptr` is a smart pointer type introduced in C++11, which
expresses exclusive ownership of a dynamically allocated object; the object
is deleted when the `std::unique_ptr` goes out of scope. It cannot be
copied, but can be moved to represent ownership transfer.
`std::shared_ptr` is a smart pointer type that expresses shared ownership of a
dynamically allocated object. `std::shared_ptr`s can be copied; ownership
of the object is shared among all copies, and the object
is deleted when the last `std::shared_ptr` is destroyed.

Prefer to use `std::unique_ptr` to make ownership
transfer explicit. For example:

```cpp
std::unique_ptr<Foo> FooFactory();
void FooConsumer(std::unique_ptr<Foo> ptr);
```

Never use `std::auto_ptr`. Instead, use `std::unique_ptr`.