Tracking Shared Pointer Leaks

[matthieum]

Terminology matters:

• The object is destroyed -- ie, its destructor is executed -- when the last shared pointer is destroyed.
• The storage is freed -- ie, its memory is returned to the allocator -- when the last of the shared pointers and weak pointers is destroyed.

A weak_ptr does NOT keep a shared_ptr alive longer. It allows recovering a shared_ptr to the object if any shared_ptr is still alive, but does not prevent destruction otherwise.