std::shared_ptr Circular Reference Leading to Memory Leak in C++11
I'm working on a C++11 project where I'm using `std::shared_ptr` to manage object lifetimes. Recently, I encountered a situation where two objects reference each other using `std::shared_ptr`, leading to a memory leak. I thought `std::shared_ptr` would handle this automatically, but it seems like they are keeping each other alive. Here’s a simplified version of my code: ```cpp #include <iostream> #include <memory> class B; // Forward declaration class A { public: std::shared_ptr<B> b; ~A() { std::cout << "A destroyed" << std::endl; } }; class B { public: std::shared_ptr<A> a; ~B() { std::cout << "B destroyed" << std::endl; } }; int main() { std::shared_ptr<A> a = std::make_shared<A>(); std::shared_ptr<B> b = std::make_shared<B>(); a->b = b; b->a = a; return 0; } ``` In this code, when I run the program, I expect both `A` and `B` to be destroyed at the end of the `main()` function, but I see that neither destructor is called. I have tried breaking the circular reference by using `std::weak_ptr`, but I’m not sure how to properly implement it in this context. Can someone guide to understand how to resolve this circular reference scenario effectively? What would be the best way to approach this, especially regarding memory management and avoiding leaks in a case like this? This is happening in both development and production on Debian.