Question

What is the difference between std::shared_ptr<T> and std::shared_ptr<T const>?

And when would you use one versus the other?

Answer 1

• shared_ptr<int> is a shared_ptr to an non-const int. You can modify the int and the shared_ptr

• shared_ptr<const int> is a shared_ptr to a const int. You can’t modify the const int the shared_ptr points to, because it’s const. But you can modify the shared_ptr itself (assign to it, call other non-const methods, etc)

• const shared_ptr<int> is a const shared_ptr to a non-const int. You can’t modify the shared_ptr (by calling reset or any non-const method), but you can modify the int it points to

• const shared_ptr<const int> is a const shared_ptr to a const int. You can’t modify jack.