c++: when to use pointers?

Question

After reading some tutorials I came to the conclusion that one should always use pointers for objects. But I have also seen a few exceptions while reading some QT tutorials

Answer 1

If possible never use pointers. Rely on pass by reference or if you are going to return a structure or class, assume that your compiler has return value optimization. (You have to avoid conditional construction of the returned class however).

There is a reason why Java doesn't have pointers. C++ doesn't need them either. If you avoid their use you will get the added benefit of automatic object destruction when the object leaves scope. Otherwise your code will be generating memory errors of various types. Memory leaks can be very tricky to find and often occur in C++ due to unhandled exceptions.

If you must use pointers, consider some of the smart pointer classes like auto_ptr. Auto destruction of objects is more than just releasing the underlying memory. There is a concept called RAII. Some objects require additionally handing on destruction. e.g. mutexes and closing files etc.