Editing Reference counting (section)

===C++===
C++ does not perform reference-counting by default, fulfilling its philosophy of not adding functionality that might incur overheads where the user has not explicitly requested it. Objects that are shared but not owned can be accessed via a reference, raw pointer, or [[Iterator (C++)|iterator]] (a conceptual generalisation of pointers).

However, by the same token, C++ provides native ways for users to opt-into such functionality: [[C++11]] provides reference counted [[smart pointers]], via the [[Shared ptr|{{code|std::shared_ptr}}]] class, enabling automatic shared memory-management of dynamically allocated objects. Programmers can use this in conjunction with [[weak pointer]]s (via [[Shared ptr|{{code|std::weak_ptr}}]]) to break cyclic dependencies. Objects that are dynamically allocated but not intended to be shared can have their lifetime automatically managed using a [[Shared ptr|{{code|std::unique_ptr}}]].

In addition, [[Move semantics|C++11's move semantics]] further reduce the extent to which reference counts need to be modified by removing the deep copy normally used when a function returns an object, as it allows for a simple copy of the pointer of said object.