Is it OK to use boost::shared ptr in DLL interface?

Question

Is it valid to develop a DLL in C++ that returns boost shared pointers and uses them as parameters?

So, is it ok to export functions like this?

1.) b         


        

Answer 1

No it is not.

The layout of boost::shared_ptr might not be the same on both sides of the DLL boundary. (Layout is influenced by compiler version, packing pragmas, and other compiler options, as well as the actual version of the Boost source code.)

Only "standard layout" (a new concept in C++11, related to the old "POD = plain old data" concept) types can safely be passed between separately-built modules.