C++ Primer, Fifth Edition

13.2.2. Defining Classes That Act Like Pointers

For our HasPtr class to act like a pointer, we need the copy constructor and copy-assignment operator to copy the pointer member, not the string to which that pointer points. Our class will still need its own destructor to free the memory allocated by the constructor that takes a string (§ 13.1.4, p. 504). In this case, though, the destructor cannot unilaterally free its associated string. It can do so only when the last HasPtr pointing to that string goes away.

The easiest way to make a class act like a pointer is to use shared_ptrs to manage the resources in the class. Copying (or assigning) a ...