Is it OK to use boost::shared ptr in DLL interface?

Question

Is it valid to develop a DLL in C++ that returns boost shared pointers and uses them as parameters?

So, is it ok to export functions like this?

1.) b         


        

Answer 1

DLLs do not normally own resources - the resources are owned by the processes that use the DLL. You are probably better off returning a plain pointer, which you then store in a shared pointer on the calling side. But without more info it's hard to be 100% certain about this.