Why have move semantics?

Question

Let me preface by saying that I have read some of the many questions already asked regarding move semantics. This question is not about how to use move semantics, it is asking w

Answer 1

Your example gives it away: your code is not exception-safe, and it makes use of the free-store (twice), which can be nontrivial. To use pointers, in many/most situations you have to allocate stuff on the free store, which is much slower than automatic storage, and does not allow for RAII.

They also let you more efficiently represent non-copyable resources, like sockets.

Move semantics aren't strictly necessary, as you can see that C++ has existed for 40 years a while without them. They are simply a better way to represent certain concepts, and an optimization.