shared_from_this called from constructor

Question

I have to register an object in a container upon its creation. Without smart pointers I\'d use something like this:

a_class::a_class()
{
    register_somewhere(t         


        

Answer 1

a_class is responsible for creating and destroying b_class instances

...

a_class instance "survives" b_class instances.

Given these two facts, there should be no danger that a b_class instance can attempt to access an a_class instance after the a_class instance has been destroyed as the a_class instance is responsible for destroying the b_class instances.

b_class can just hold a pointer to it's associated a_class instance. A raw pointer doesn't express any ownership which is appropriate for this case.

In this example it doesn't matter how the a_class is created, dynamically, part of a aggregated object, etc. Whatever creates a_class manages its lifetime just as a_class manages the lifetime of the b_class which it instantiates.

E.g.

class a_class;

class b_class
{
public:
    b_class( a_class* a_ ) : a( a_ ) {}
private:
    a_class* a;
};

class a_class
{
public:
    a_class() : b( new b_class(this) ) {}
private:
    boost::shared_ptr b;
};

Note, in this toy example there is no need for a shared_ptr, an object member would work just as well (assuming that you don't copy your entity class).

class a_class
{
public:
    a_class() : b( this ) {}
private:
    b_class b;
};