> Why do C++ programmers always refer to the overhead of "reference counting", when the overhead is not in the counting, but in the memory management: You’re m

> Why do C++ programmers always refer to the overhead of "reference counting", when the overhead is not in the counting, but in the memory management: You’re mistaken. In a multi core or multi processor system, atomic operations necessary for shared RC are relatively expensive. Heap allocation cost is paid for any dynamic object no matter the type of GC/RC used, so that is not what is being compared.