Hands-On Design Patterns with C++

Chapter 3

• Why is it important to clearly express memory ownership in a program?

Clear memory ownership, and by extension, resource ownership, is one of the key attributes of a good design. With clear ownership, resources are certain to be created and made available in time for when they are needed, maintained while they are in use, and released/cleaned up when no longer needed.

• What are the common problems arising from unclear memory ownership?

The most common problems are resource leaks, including memory leaks; dangling handles (resource handles, such as pointers, references, or iterators, pointing to resources that do not exist); multiple attempts to release the same resource; and multiple attempts to construct the same resource.