Please help me to understand boost::make_shared

Question

I am self-learning C++ and have got a piece of C++ code which reads like:

boost::make_shared<Something<Some_Other_thing> >()

I failed to comprehend what the above line is doing and why it may be required.

What would be an alternative way to achieve the same?

Could you please help me to understand in relatively simple language?

Any pointer will be highly appreciated.

Answer 1

By calling that function you are creating a shared pointer to Something<Some_Other_thing> type. A shared smart pointer is used to manage resources, when there are no more variables holding that pointer, the resource is deleted. More info here and here