'shared_ptr' can use type erasure because it is a much heavier object. 'unique_ptr' on the other hand is supposed to be a nearly free. If you wanted a version

'shared_ptr' can use type erasure because it is a much heavier object. 'unique_ptr' on the other hand is supposed to be a nearly free. If you wanted a version of your code with unique_ptr, you would create a SDLDelete struct template. The result would be nearly identical except for an additional type parameter (and the new struct). Then if you wanted to make "CreateWindow" generic for any of SDL's create/delete pairs... you are basically looking at the OP's make_resource code but slightly different. :P Their version just avoids making a new struct.