Improve memory management using smart pointers

[NickDraper]

Look at every bare pointer we are using and consider if it can be replaced by a scoped_ptr, shared_ptr of a refControl pointer (This may get renamed cow_ptr).

[NickDraper]

This issue was originally trac ticket 68

[elfring]

Would you like to wrap any pointers with the class template “std::unique_ptr”?

[NickDraper]

We did some profiling several years ago that showed that blindly doing that added a significant performance cost, when added up over the whole system. New development should avoid using bare pointers, but some areas that are highly performance sensitive, and do not show memory management problems such as geometry are not worth addressing, particularly if it affects performance.

[elfring]

• Do the run time characteristics look different for the usage of smart pointers in the current software situation?
• How do you think about to achieve safe resource management together with recent development tools?