> All the C++ compiler actually gives you is destruction at end of lexical scope, and then it's your job as programmer to do what people actually wanted instead

> All the C++ compiler actually gives you is destruction at end of lexical scope, and then it's your job as programmer to do what people actually wanted instead. `new` and `delete` are built into the language (and smart pointers into the standard library). The statement that object lifetime is tied to lexical scope is plainly untrue. > Thus it's your job, when implementing a C++ type, to ensure that the "real" work happens whenever a programmer would expect The auto-generated (`= default`) copy and move constructors do the right thing by default if you compose your type from other (correct) types. Yes, in the rare case that you write a type that has to implement RAII, the compiler can do the wrong thing by default ("copy just copies the pointer"), but then you write a wrapper class once and you're done. If that's even necessary at all, since unique_ptr can have custom deleters. (You wouldn't violate Single Responsibility by messing with RAII in a class that also does other things, right?)