How to replace char* using smart pointers?

Question

I have to expose an API which takes a char* as input argument. The char* points to a chunk of binary data on heap. In this case the caller have to manage the memory allocation and deletion.

Is there a way that I could use a shared_ptr as input argument instead of a raw pointer.

void func(char* data)
{
   //some operation
}

Answer 1

If func simply observes the data without changing it, have it accept a const char * . The caller can store the pointer in any smart pointer, and use the get() function to get a bare pointer to pass to func .

If func changes the data, I like to steal ideas from Rust and pass in a std::unique_ptr and return a std::unique_ptr . The caller passes away ownership and then receives back ownership of a pointer, but possibly a completely different pointer. And it doesn't matter.

If func has to modify the data and it has to accept a char * then just use get() as before from any smart pointer that you want. As long as func does not store the pointer somewhere nothing will break.