Should I store entire objects, or pointers to objects in containers?

Question

Designing a new system from scratch. I\'ll be using the STL to store lists and maps of certain long-live objects.

Question: Should I ensure my objects have copy co

Answer 1

Using pointers will be more efficient since the containers will be only copying pointers around instead of full objects.

There's some useful information here about STL containers and smart pointers:

Why is it wrong to use std::auto_ptr<> with standard containers?