gistfile1.cpp

// C++11 offers a built-in "owning" pointer which allows transfer of ownership
// and manages lifetime but disallows copying. There is no runtime overhead for its use:

std::unique_ptr<socket> connect_to(const std::string& host, int port) {
  /// ...
  return new socket(fd); 
}

{
  auto connected = connect_to("www.10gen.com", 80);
  connected->send("GET HTTP/1.1 index.html");
} // socket is automatically destroyed here.

auto connected = connect_to("www.mongodb.org", 80);
auto copy_of_connected = connected; // NOPE, won't compile, would alias