Hi, In Best Practices section of shared_ptr is an example: void f(shared_ptr<int>, int); int g(); void ok() { shared_ptr<int> p(new int(2)); f(p, g()); } void bad() { f(shared_ptr<int>(new int(2)), g()); } Best Practices refers to http://www.gotw.ca/gotw/056.htm (it deals with auto_ptr, but for shared_ptr the conclusion is same). The article proposes following solution: template<typename T, typename A1> shared_ptr<Type> new_shared_ptr(A1 a1) { return shared_ptr<Type>(new Type(a1)); } void ok2() { f(new_shared_ptr<int>(2), g()); } However the conclusion of the article is, that ok1() is better than ok2() because you have to write helper functions. I don't agree. IMHO ok2 IS better and the helper functions should be in the library (so the uses doesn't have to write them. What do you think? Regards, Vaclav