C++11 rvalue issue - c++11
I don't know how come the following example output, can anyone tell me? Thanks in advance!
#include <iostream>
#include <algorithm>
class A
{
public:
// Simple constructor that initializes the resource.
explicit A(size_t length)
: mLength(length), mData(new int[length])
{
std::cout << "A(size_t). length = "
<< mLength << "." << std::endl;
}
// Destructor.
~A()
{
std::cout << "~A(). length = " << mLength << ".";
if (mData != NULL) {
std::cout << " Deleting resource.";
delete[] mData; // Delete the resource.
}
std::cout << std::endl;
}
// Copy constructor.
A(const A& other)
: mLength(other.mLength), mData(new int[other.mLength])
{
std::cout << "A(const A&). length = "
<< other.mLength << ". Copying resource." << std::endl;
std::copy(other.mData, other.mData + mLength, mData);
}
// Copy assignment operator.
A& operator=(const A& other)
{
std::cout << "operator=(const A&). length = "
<< other.mLength << ". Copying resource." << std::endl;
if (this != &other) {
delete[] mData; // Free the existing resource.
mLength = other.mLength;
mData = new int[mLength];
std::copy(other.mData, other.mData + mLength, mData);
}
return *this;
}
// Move constructor.
A(A&& other) : mData(NULL), mLength(0)
{
std::cout << "A(A&&). length = "
<< other.mLength << ". Moving resource.\n";
// Copy the data pointer and its length from the
// source object.
mData = other.mData;
mLength = other.mLength;
// Release the data pointer from the source object so that
// the destructor does not free the memory multiple times.
other.mData = NULL;
other.mLength = 0;
}
// Move assignment operator.
A& operator=(A&& other)
{
std::cout << "operator=(A&&). length = "
<< other.mLength << "." << std::endl;
if (this != &other) {
// Free the existing resource.
delete[] mData;
// Copy the data pointer and its length from the
// source object.
mData = other.mData;
mLength = other.mLength;
// Release the data pointer from the source object so that
// the destructor does not free the memory multiple times.
other.mData = NULL;
other.mLength = 0;
}
return *this;
}
// Retrieves the length of the data resource.
size_t Length() const
{
return mLength;
}
private:
size_t mLength; // The length of the resource.
int* mData; // The resource.
};
#include <vector>
int main()
{
// Create a vector object and add a few elements to it.
std::vector<A> v;
v.push_back(A(25));
v.push_back(A(75));
::std::cout << "----------------------" << std::endl;
// Insert a new element into the second position of the vector.
//v.insert(v.begin() + 1, A(50));
return 0;
}
ouput:
A(size_t). length = 25.
A(A&&). length = 25. Moving resource.
~A(). length = 0.
A(size_t). length = 75.
A(A&&). length = 75. Moving resource.
A(const A&). length = 25. Copying resource. // how come these two lines?
~A(). length = 25. Deleting resource.
~A(). length = 0.
----------------------
~A(). length = 25. Deleting resource.
~A(). length = 75. Deleting resource.
std::vector has to either move or copy its internal state while resizing once its capacity is exhausted. However, it doesn't know that it's safe to move the A's it's storing (the two calls to push_back) since the move operations aren't marked noexcept. Because std::vector doesn't know it's safe, it's erring on the side of caution and copying the values.
// Move constructor.
A(A&& other) noexcept : mData(NULL), mLength(0) { /* ... */ }
// Move assignment operator.
A& operator=(A&& other) noexcept { /* ... */ }
With those changes, I get the following output:
A(size_t). length = 25
.
A(A&&). length = 25. Moving resource.
~A(). length = 0.
A(size_t). length = 75.
A(A&&). length = 75. Moving resource.
A(A&&). length = 25. Moving resource.
~A(). length = 0.
~A(). length = 0.
----------------------
~A(). length = 25. Deleting resource.
~A(). length = 75. Deleting resource.
You could also reserve sufficient capacity (v.reserve(2); before calling push_back), but if your vector ever has to resize you'll start copying As again.
Related
Error using Max_Element with String Vector
I'm implementing an algorithm to return a vector string array with only the largest elements in the vector string array of entrance: vector<string> solution(vector<string> inputArray) { vector<string> s; auto m = *max_element(inputArray.begin(),inputArray.end()); for(int i=0;i<inputArray.size();i++){ if(inputArray[i].size() == m.size()) { s.push_back(inputArray[i]); } } return s; It works for every test case except in the case the entry string vector is {"enyky", "benyky","yely","varennyky"}. 'm' should return a pointer to "varennyky", but it returns a pointer to "yely" instead. I digged in to the documentation for max_element, but cant find what I'm doing wrong. Can anybody help me?
Your function is comparing the strings lexicographically, which is the default comparison in case of strings. To illustrate, consider the following example: #include <algorithm> #include <string> #include <vector> // Print a vector of strings void print_vec(std::vector<std::string> vec) { for (const auto& el : vec) { std::cout << el << " "; } std::cout << std::endl; } // Compares strings by length bool less_length(const std::string& s1, const std::string& s2) { return s1.length() < s2.length(); } int main() { std::vector<std::string> test_0 = {"enyky", "benyky","yely","varennyky"}; // Default sort and max element std::sort(test_0.begin(), test_0.end()); print_vec(test_0); const auto largest_0 = *std::max_element(test_0.begin(), test_0.end()); std::cout << "Largest member (lexicographically): " << largest_0 << '\n' << std::endl; // Sort and max element by string size std::sort(test_0.begin(), test_0.end(), less_length); print_vec(test_0); const auto largest_1 = *std::max_element(test_0.begin(), test_0.end(), less_length); std::cout << "Largest member (by string length): " << largest_1 << std::endl; } The first part of the program runs what you are doing in your function: it finds the maximum element based on lexicographic ordering. According to that ordering, the largest string is yely, you can see that by the output from sort. The second part uses a custom comparison function, borrowed directly from this book. It uses string length to determine the order in the max_element call and the result is what you were looking for. Again, the sorted vector is also printed for clarity.
How to read chunk of the data from a hdf5 file in c++?
I want to read a chunk of data which is just one frame of many frames stored in one dataset. The shape of the whole dataset is (10, 11214,3), 10 frames each frame has 11214 rows and 4 columns. Here is the file. The chunk I want to read would have the shape (11214,3). I can print the predefined array using, but I'm not sure how can I read data from a hdf5 file. Here is my code, #include <h5xx/h5xx.hpp> #include <boost/multi_array.hpp> #include <iostream> #include <vector> #include <cstdio> typedef boost::multi_array<int, 2> array_2d_t; const int NI=10; const int NJ=NI; void print_array(array_2d_t const& array) { for (unsigned int j = 0; j < array.shape()[1]; j++) { for (unsigned int i = 0; i < array.shape()[0]; i++) { printf("%2d ", array[j][i]); } printf("\n"); } } void write_int_data(std::string const& filename, array_2d_t const& array) { h5xx::file file(filename, h5xx::file::trunc); std::string name; { // --- create dataset and fill it with the default array data (positive values) name = "integer array"; h5xx::create_dataset(file, name, array); h5xx::write_dataset(file, name, array); // --- create a slice object (aka hyperslab) to specify the location in the dataset to be overwritten std::vector<int> offset; int offset_raw[2] = {4,4}; offset.assign(offset_raw, offset_raw + 2); std::vector<int> count; int count_raw[2] = {2,2}; count.assign(count_raw, count_raw + 2); h5xx::slice slice(offset, count); } } void read_int_data(std::string const& filename) { h5xx::file file(filename, h5xx::file::in); std::string name = "integer array"; // read and print the full dataset { array_2d_t array; // --- read the complete dataset into array, the array is resized and overwritten internally h5xx::read_dataset(file, name, array); printf("original integer array read from file, negative number patch was written using a slice\n"); print_array(array); printf("\n"); } } int main(int argc, char** argv) { std::string filename = argv[0]; filename.append(".h5"); // --- do a few demos/tests using integers { array_2d_t array(boost::extents[NJ][NI]); { const int nelem = NI*NJ; int data[nelem]; for (int i = 0; i < nelem; i++) data[i] = i; array.assign(data, data + nelem); } write_int_data(filename, array); read_int_data(filename); } return 0; } I'm using the h5xx — a template-based C++ wrapper for the HDF5 library link and boost library. The datasets are stored in particles/lipids/box/positions path. The dataset name value holds the frames.
argv[0] is not what you want (arguments start at 1, 0 is the program name). Consider bounds checking as well: std::vector<std::string> const args(argv, argv + argc); std::string const filename = args.at(1) + ".h5"; the initialization can be done directly, without a temporary array (what is multi_array for, otherwise?) for (size_t i = 0; i < array.num_elements(); i++) array.data()[i] = i; Or indeed, make it an algorithm: std::iota(array.data(), array.data() + array.num_elements(), 0); same with vectors: std::vector<int> offset; int offset_raw[2] = {4,4}; offset.assign(offset_raw, offset_raw + 2); std::vector<int> count; int count_raw[2] = {2,2}; count.assign(count_raw, count_raw + 2); besides being a formatting mess can be simply std::vector offset{4,4}, count{2,2}; h5xx::slice slice(offset, count); On To The Real Question The code has no relevance to the file. At all. I created some debug/tracing code to dump the file contents: void dump(h5xx::group const& g, std::string indent = "") { auto dd = g.datasets(); auto gg = g.groups(); for (auto it = dd.begin(); it != dd.end(); ++it) { std::cout << indent << " ds:" << it.get_name() << "\n"; } for (auto it = gg.begin(); it != gg.end(); ++it) { dump(*it, indent + "/" + it.get_name()); } } int main() { h5xx::file xaa("xaa.h5", h5xx::file::mode::in); dump(xaa); } Prints /particles/lipids/box/edges ds:box_size /particles/lipids/box/edges ds:step /particles/lipids/box/edges ds:time /particles/lipids/box/edges ds:value /particles/lipids/box/positions ds:step /particles/lipids/box/positions ds:time /particles/lipids/box/positions ds:value Now we can drill down to the dataset. Let's see whether we can figure out the correct type. It certainly is NOT array_2d_t: h5xx::dataset ds(xaa, "particles/lipids/box/positions/value"); array_2d_t a; h5xx::datatype detect(a); std::cout << "type: " << std::hex << ds.get_type() << std::dec << "\n"; std::cout << "detect: " << std::hex << detect.get_type_id() << std::dec << "\n"; Prints type: 30000000000013b detect: 30000000000000c That's a type mismatch. I guess I'll have to learn to read that gibberish as well... Let's add some diagnostics: void diag_type(hid_t type) { std::cout << " Class " << ::H5Tget_class(type) << std::endl; std::cout << " Size " << ::H5Tget_size(type) << std::endl; std::cout << " Sign " << ::H5Tget_sign(type) << std::endl; std::cout << " Order " << ::H5Tget_order(type) << std::endl; std::cout << " Precision " << ::H5Tget_precision(type) << std::endl; std::cout << " NDims " << ::H5Tget_array_ndims(type) << std::endl; std::cout << " NMembers " << ::H5Tget_nmembers(type) << std::endl; } int main() { h5xx::file xaa("xaa.h5", h5xx::file::mode::in); // dump(xaa); { h5xx::group g(xaa, "particles/lipids/box/positions"); h5xx::dataset ds(g, "value"); std::cout << "dataset: " << std::hex << ds.get_type() << std::dec << std::endl; diag_type(ds.get_type()); } { array_2d_t a(boost::extents[NJ][NI]); h5xx::datatype detect(a); std::cout << "detect: " << std::hex << detect.get_type_id() << std::dec << std::endl; diag_type(detect.get_type_id()); } } Prints dataset: 30000000000013b Class 1 Size 4 Sign -1 Order 0 Precision 32 NDims -1 NMembers -1 detect: 30000000000000c Class 0 Size 4 Sign 1 Order 0 Precision 32 NDims -1 NMembers -1 At least we know that HST_FLOAT (class 1) is required. Let's modify array_2d_t: using array_2d_t = boost::multi_array<float, 2>; array_2d_t a(boost::extents[11214][3]); This at least makes the data appear similarly. Let's ... naively try to read: h5xx::read_dataset(ds, a); Oops, that predictably throws terminate called after throwing an instance of 'h5xx::error' what(): /home/sehe/Projects/stackoverflow/deps/h5xx/h5xx/dataset/boost_multi_array.hpp:176:read_dataset(): dataset "/particles/lipi ds/box/positions/value" and target array have mismatching dimensions No worries, we can guess: using array_3d_t = boost::multi_array<float, 3>; array_3d_t a(boost::extents[10][11214][3]); h5xx::read_dataset(ds, a); At least this does work. Adapting the print function: template <typename T> void print_array(T const& array) { for (auto const& row : array) { for (auto v : row) printf("%5f ", v); printf("\n"); } } Now we can print the first frame: h5xx::read_dataset(ds, a); print_array(*a.begin()); // print the first frame This prints: 80.480003 35.360001 4.250000 37.450001 3.920000 3.960000 18.530001 -9.690000 4.680000 55.389999 74.339996 4.600000 22.110001 68.709999 3.850000 -4.130000 24.040001 3.730000 40.160000 6.390000 4.730000 -5.400000 35.730000 4.850000 36.669998 22.450001 4.080000 -3.680000 -10.660000 4.180000 (...) That checks out with h5ls -r -d xaa.h5/particles/lipids/box/positions/value: particles/lipids/box/positions/value Dataset {75/Inf, 11214, 3} Data: (0,0,0) 80.48, 35.36, 4.25, 37.45, 3.92, 3.96, 18.53, -9.69, 4.68, (0,3,0) 55.39, 74.34, 4.6, 22.11, 68.71, 3.85, -4.13, 24.04, 3.73, (0,6,0) 40.16, 6.39, 4.73, -5.4, 35.73, 4.85, 36.67, 22.45, 4.08, -3.68, (0,9,1) -10.66, 4.18, 35.95, 36.43, 5.15, 57.17, 3.88, 5.08, -23.64, (0,12,1) 50.44, 4.32, 6.78, 8.24, 4.36, 21.34, 50.63, 5.21, 16.29, (0,15,1) -1.34, 5.28, 22.26, 71.25, 5.4, 19.76, 10.38, 5.34, 78.62, (0,18,1) 11.13, 5.69, 22.14, 59.7, 4.92, 15.65, 47.28, 5.22, 82.41, (0,21,1) 2.09, 5.24, 16.87, -11.68, 5.35, 15.54, -0.63, 5.2, 81.25, (...) The Home Stretch: Adding The Slice array_2d_t read_frame(int frame_no) { h5xx::file xaa("xaa.h5", h5xx::file::mode::in); h5xx::group g(xaa, "particles/lipids/box/positions"); h5xx::dataset ds(g, "value"); array_2d_t a(boost::extents[11214][3]); std::vector offsets{frame_no, 0, 0}, counts{1, 11214, 3}; h5xx::slice slice(offsets, counts); h5xx::read_dataset(ds, a, slice); return a; } There you have it. Now we can print any frame: print_array(read_frame(0)); Printing the same as before. Let's try the last frame: print_array(read_frame(9)); Prints 79.040001 36.349998 3.990000 37.250000 3.470000 4.140000 18.600000 -9.270000 4.900000 55.669998 75.070000 5.370000 21.920000 67.709999 3.790000 -4.670000 24.770000 3.690000 40.000000 6.060000 5.240000 -5.340000 36.320000 5.410000 36.369999 22.490000 4.130000 -3.520000 -10.430000 4.280000 (...) Checking again with h5ls -r -d xaa.h5/particles/lipids/box/positions/value |& grep '(9' | head confirms: (9,0,0) 79.04, 36.35, 3.99, 37.25, 3.47, 4.14, 18.6, -9.27, 4.9, 55.67, (9,3,1) 75.07, 5.37, 21.92, 67.71, 3.79, -4.67, 24.77, 3.69, 40, 6.06, (9,6,2) 5.24, -5.34, 36.32, 5.41, 36.37, 22.49, 4.13, -3.52, -10.43, (9,9,2) 4.28, 35.8, 36.43, 4.99, 56.6, 4.09, 5.04, -23.37, 49.42, 3.81, (9,13,0) 6.31, 8.83, 4.56, 22.01, 50.38, 5.43, 16.3, -2.92, 5.4, 22.02, (9,16,1) 70.09, 5.36, 20.23, 11.12, 5.66, 78.48, 11.34, 6.09, 20.26, (9,19,1) 61.45, 5.35, 14.25, 48.32, 5.35, 79.95, 1.71, 5.38, 17.56, (9,22,1) -11.61, 5.39, 15.64, -0.19, 5.06, 80.43, 71.77, 5.29, 75.54, (9,25,1) 35.14, 5.26, 22.45, 56.86, 5.56, 16.47, 52.97, 6.16, 20.62, (9,28,1) 65.12, 5.26, 19.68, 71.2, 5.52, 23.39, 49.84, 5.28, 22.7, Full Listing #include <boost/multi_array.hpp> #include <h5xx/h5xx.hpp> #include <iostream> using array_2d_t = boost::multi_array<float, 2>; template <typename T> void print_array(T const& array) { for (auto const& row : array) { for (auto v : row) printf("%5f ", v); printf("\n"); } } void dump(h5xx::group const& g, std::string indent = "") { auto dd = g.datasets(); auto gg = g.groups(); for (auto it = dd.begin(); it != dd.end(); ++it) { std::cout << indent << " ds:" << it.get_name() << std::endl; } for (auto it = gg.begin(); it != gg.end(); ++it) { dump(*it, indent + "/" + it.get_name()); } } array_2d_t read_frame(int frame_no) { h5xx::file xaa("xaa.h5", h5xx::file::mode::in); h5xx::group g(xaa, "particles/lipids/box/positions"); h5xx::dataset ds(g, "value"); array_2d_t arr(boost::extents[11214][3]); std::vector offsets{frame_no, 0, 0}, counts{1, 11214, 3}; h5xx::slice slice(offsets, counts); h5xx::read_dataset(ds, arr, slice); return arr; } int main() { print_array(read_frame(9)); }
What does String do that I'm not doing? c++11
I am still new to c++, so bear with me. I was trying to learn more about how std::move works and I saw an example where they used std::move to move the string to a different function and then showed using std::cout that no string remained. I thought cool, let's see if I can make my own class and do the same: #include <iostream> #include <string> class integer { private: int *m_i; public: integer(int i=0) : m_i(new int{i}) { std::cout << "Calling Constructor\n"; } ~integer() { if(m_i != nullptr) { std::cout << "Deleting integer\n"; delete m_i; m_i = nullptr; } } integer(integer&& i) : m_i(nullptr) // move constructor { std::cout << "Move Constructor\n"; m_i = i.m_i; i.m_i = nullptr; } integer(const integer& i) : m_i(new int) { // copy constructor std::cout << "Copy Constructor\n"; *m_i = *(i.m_i); } //* integer& operator=(integer&& i) { // move assignment std::cout << "Move Assignment\n"; if(&i != this) { delete m_i; m_i = i.m_i; i.m_i = nullptr; } return *this; } integer& operator=(const integer &i) { // copy assignment std::cout << "Copy Assignment\n"; if(&i != this) { m_i = new int; *m_i = *(i.m_i); } return *this; } int& operator*() const { return *m_i; } int* operator->() const { return m_i; } bool empty() const noexcept { if(m_i == nullptr) return true; return false; } friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream &out, const integer i) { if(i.empty()) { std::cout << "During overload, i is empty\n"; return out; } out << *(i.m_i); return out; } }; void g(integer i) { std::cout << "G-wiz - "; std::cout << "The g value is " << i << '\n'; } void g(std::string s) { std::cout << "The g value is " << s << '\n'; } int main() { std::string s("Hello"); std::cout << "Now for string\n"; g(std::move(s)); if(s.empty()) std::cout << "s is empty\n"; g(s); std::cout << "\nNow for integer\n"; integer i = 77; if(!i.empty()) std::cout << "i is " << i << '\n'; else std::cout << "i is empty\n"; g(i); std::cout << "Move it\n"; g(std::move(i)); // rvalue ref called if(!i.empty()) std::cout << "i is " << i << '\n'; else std::cout << "i is empty\n"; g(i); return 0; } And this is my output: Now for string The g value is Hello s is empty The g value is Now for integer Calling Constructor Copy Constructor i is 77 Deleting integer Copy Constructor G-wiz - Copy Constructor The g value is 77 Deleting integer Deleting integer Move it Move Constructor G-wiz - Copy Constructor The g value is 77 Deleting integer Deleting integer i is empty Copy Constructor Process returned 255 (0xFF) execution time : 7.633 s Press any key to continue. As you can see, it crashes when it enters g the second time, never even getting to the operator<<() function. How is it that the empty std::string s can be passed to g where my empty integer i crashes the program? Edit: Fixed new int vs. new int[] error. Thanks n.m.
Your "empty integer" crashes the program because it contains a null pointer. You are trying to dereference it when you use it at the right hand side of the assignment. An empty string is a normal usable string. There are no unchecked null pointer dereferences in the std::string code. You have to ensure that the empty state of your object is a usable one. Start with defining a default constructor. Does it make sense for your class? If not, then move semantic probably doesn't either. If yes, a moved-from object in the move constructor should probably end up in the same state as a default-constructed object. A move assignment can act as a swap operation, so there the right-hand-side may end up either empty or not. If you don't want to define a usable empty state for your class, and still want move semantics, you simply cannot use an object after it has been moved from. You still need to make sure that an empty object is destructible.
Which one to choose between pointer way and non pointer way?
#include <iostream> class A{ public: A(){std::cout << "basic constructor called \n";}; A(const A& other) { val = other.x std::cout << "copy constructor is called \n"; } A& operator=(const A& other){ val = other.x std::cout << "\n\nassignment operator " << other.val << "\n\n"; } ~A(){ std::cout << "destructor of value " << val <<" called !!\n"; } A(int x){ val = x; std::cout << " A("<<x<<") constructor called \n"; } int get_val(){ return val; } private: int val; }; int main(){ // non pointer way A a; a = A(1); std::cout << a.get_val() << std::endl; a = A(2); std::cout << a.get_val() << std::endl; // pointer way A* ap; ap = new A(13); std::cout << ap->get_val() << std::endl; delete ap; ap = new A(232); std::cout << ap->get_val() << std::endl; delete ap; return 0; } I initially create an object out of default constructor and then assign tmp r-value objects A(x) to a. This ends up calling assignment operator. So in this approach there are 3 steps involved (non-pointer way) 1) constructor 2) assignment operator 3) destructor Where as when I use pointer it only requires two step (pointer way) 1) constructor 2) destructor My question is should I use non-pointer way to create new classes or should I use pointer way. Because I have been said that I should avoid pointers (I know I could also use shared_ptr here).
Rule of thumb: Prefer to create objects on the stack. There is less work for memory management when you create objects on the stack. It is also more efficient. When do you have to create objects on the heap? Here are some situations that need it: You need to create an array of objects where the size of the array is known only at run time. You need an object to live beyond the function in which it was constructed. You need to store and/or pass around a pointer to a base class type but the pointer points to a derived class object. In this case, the derived class object, most likely, will need to be created using heap memory.
Dealing with dangling references to custom smart pointer
Disclaimer: yes, I know about shared_ptr. But I still want to do this. Also, I am aware I am not using locks nor atomics and so this is not thread safe. Assume the following somewhat simple implementation of a 'smart' pointer. The semantics being that if you pass by value you increase the ref count and if you stick to references you have a 'weak' of sorts: #pragma once #include <iostream> #include <cassert> using std::cout; template <class T> class Ptr { private: T* ptr; int* refCount; public: Ptr(T* ptr) { assert(ptr); this->ptr = ptr; this->refCount = new int(1); } Ptr(Ptr& from) { swap(*this, from); } Ptr(Ptr&& from) { swap(*this, from, false); } Ptr& operator=(const Ptr& from) { swap(*this, from); return *this; } ~Ptr() { if (*refCount >= 1) { (*refCount)--; cout << "\n Ptr destructor: new ref count: " << *refCount; if (*refCount == 0) { delete ptr; ptr = nullptr; } } } operator bool() { return (*refCount >= 1); } T* operator->() { assert(*refCount >= 1); return ptr; } int referenceCount() { return *refCount; } private: template <class T> void swap(Ptr<T>& to, Ptr<T>& from, bool isCopy = true) { assert((*from.refCount) >= 1); to.ptr = from.ptr; to.refCount = from.refCount; if (isCopy) { (*to.refCount)++; } else { from.ptr = nullptr; } } }; class A { public: A() = default; ~A() { cout << "\n dealloc:" << this; } void doSomething() { } }; void Test() { { Ptr<A> p1(new A); cout << "\ncheckpoint - refCount (should be 1): " << p1.referenceCount(); Ptr<A> p2 = p1; cout << "\ncheckpoint - refCount (should be 2): " << p1.referenceCount(); Ptr<A>& p3 = p1; cout << "\ncheckpoint - refCount (should be 2): " << p1.referenceCount(); Ptr<A> p4 = std::move(p1); cout << "\ncheckpoint - refCount (should be 2): " << p4.referenceCount(); Ptr<A> p5 = p4; cout << "\ncheckpoint - refCount (should be 3): " << p5.referenceCount(); } cout << "\nend"; } I get the following output which is as expected: checkpoint - refCount (should be 1): 1 checkpoint - refCount (should be 2): 2 checkpoint - refCount (should be 2): 2 checkpoint - refCount (should be 2): 2 checkpoint - refCount (should be 3): 3 Ptr destructor: new ref count: 2 Ptr destructor: new ref count: 1 Ptr destructor: new ref count: 0 dealloc:00C3D060 But there is one big problem. Assume I had kept any of those references (could have been a pointer for that matter -- any handle that acts as a weak ref), and the last strong ref goes out of scope. The original pointer is now null and the smart pointer's counter (which I am leaking), would still allow any weak handles to behave appropriately since it would still hold a valid value of 0. But had I deleted the counter pointer, any references left would eventually point to other data if that memory location got used for something else, which could include any number other than 0. So I'm thinking I might need to crate a static pointer to a value of 0 and instead use pointers to pointers for the counter? That way whichever strong ref deletes the pointer could also point all counters to the static 0? I'm kind of confused about it. Especially since I was looking at the source code of a rendering engine and their shared ptr class is very similar to the above code.