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std::shared_ptr causing memory leaks when used with custom deleters in C++

๐Ÿ‘€ Views: 45 ๐Ÿ’ฌ Answers: 1 ๐Ÿ“… Created: 2025-06-12
memory-management smart-pointers c++11 C++

Quick question that's been bugging me - I'm experimenting with I keep running into I'm encountering memory leaks in my C++ application when using `std::shared_ptr` with a custom deleter... I have a custom class `Resource` that manages a dynamically allocated array, and I want to ensure proper cleanup when the shared pointer goes out of scope. However, despite providing a custom deleter, the memory allocated for the array is not being released as expected. Hereโ€™s a simplified version of my code: ```cpp #include <iostream> #include <memory> class Resource { public: Resource(size_t size) : size(size) { data = new int[size]; } ~Resource() { delete[] data; } private: int* data; size_t size; }; void createResource() { std::shared_ptr<Resource> resPtr(new Resource(10), [](Resource* r) { delete r; }); } int main() { for (int i = 0; i < 10; ++i) { createResource(); } return 0; } ``` In the `createResource` function, I create a `std::shared_ptr` that manages a `Resource` object. The custom deleter is meant to delete the `Resource` instance when the shared pointer goes out of scope. However, I've noticed that using a loop like this leads to memory being allocated repeatedly without being freed. When I check the memory usage, it keeps increasing. Iโ€™ve tried different variations of the custom deleter, but I canโ€™t seem to make it work. Here's the specific line where I create the shared pointer: ```cpp std::shared_ptr<Resource> resPtr(new Resource(10), [](Resource* r) { delete r; }); ``` Am I missing something in my approach? Should I be using `std::make_shared` instead, or is there a better practice for managing the lifecycle of such resources in C++? Any insights into this would be greatly appreciated! For reference, this is a production CLI tool. Am I missing something obvious? I'm coming from a different tech stack and learning C++.