This document discusses C++ smart pointers, which provide automatic memory management of dynamically allocated memory. It covers std::unique_ptr, which cannot be copied but can move ownership between pointers, and std::shared_ptr, which allows multiple pointers to the same memory block by using a reference count. std::unique_ptr handles returning local pointers by moving ownership, while std::shared_ptr frees memory when the reference count reaches zero. Smart pointers avoid issues with raw pointers through features like automatic deallocation.