Memory Safety Patterns

From the author

Implement memory-safe programming with RAII, ownership, smart pointers, and resource management across Rust, C++, and C. Use when writing safe systems code, managing resources, or preventing memory bugs.

— the description by Seth Hobson

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a structured approach to memory safety by detailing cross-language patterns such as RAII, ownership, and smart pointers. It helps developers write robust systems code by explaining how to prevent common memory bugs like use-after-free, leaks, and data races. The content covers core concepts, best practices, and debugging strategies for C, C++, and Rust, offering a clear path to safer resource management.

What it does

Defines core memory safety patterns like RAII and ownership.
Categorizes common memory bugs and their prevention strategies.
Provides C++ examples for smart pointers and RAII.
Explains Rust ownership and borrowing concepts.
Lists essential debugging tools for memory and thread safety.
Offers best practices for avoiding raw pointers and dangling references.

When to use it

When writing or refactoring systems-level code.
When you need to manage complex resources like files or sockets.
When debugging memory leaks or use-after-free errors.
When choosing between languages based on their safety guarantees.
When implementing RAII to ensure deterministic resource cleanup.

Advantages

Reduces the risk of undefined behavior in systems programming.
Provides clear, actionable patterns for multiple languages.
Encourages modern, exception-safe coding practices.
Helps bridge the gap between manual memory management and safe abstractions.

Usage examples

“How can I prevent double-free errors in C++?”: The skill explains using smart pointers and RAII to ensure resources are managed automatically, preventing manual free calls that lead to double-free bugs.
“What is the best way to handle file handles safely?”: It demonstrates the RAII pattern, where a class constructor opens the file and the destructor ensures it is closed, tying resource lifetime to object scope.
“How do I debug memory leaks in my C++ application?”: The skill provides commands for using Valgrind and AddressSanitizer to detect leaks and invalid memory access during runtime.

Install

Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/wshobson/memory-safety-patterns/download

Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip memory-safety-patterns.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Seth Hobson

Cross-language patterns for memory-safe programming including RAII, ownership, smart pointers, and resource management.

When to Use This Skill

Writing memory-safe systems code
Managing resources (files, sockets, memory)
Preventing use-after-free and leaks
Implementing RAII patterns
Choosing between languages for safety
Debugging memory issues

Core Concepts

1. Memory Bug Categories

Bug Type	Description	Prevention
Use-after-free	Access freed memory	Ownership, RAII
Double-free	Free same memory twice	Smart pointers
Memory leak	Never free memory	RAII, GC
Buffer overflow	Write past buffer end	Bounds checking
Dangling pointer	Pointer to freed memory	Lifetime tracking
Data race	Concurrent unsynchronized access	Ownership, Sync

2. Safety Spectrum

Manual (C) → Smart Pointers (C++) → Ownership (Rust) → GC (Go, Java)
Less safe                                              More safe
More control                                           Less control

Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.

Best Practices

Do's

Prefer RAII - Tie resource lifetime to scope
Use smart pointers - Avoid raw pointers in C++
Understand ownership - Know who owns what
Check bounds - Use safe access methods
Use tools - AddressSanitizer, Valgrind, Miri

Don'ts

Don't use raw pointers - Unless interfacing with C
Don't return local references - Dangling pointer
Don't ignore compiler warnings - They catch bugs
Don't use unsafe carelessly - In Rust, minimize it
Don't assume thread safety - Be explicit

Debugging Tools

# AddressSanitizer (Clang/GCC)
clang++ -fsanitize=address -g source.cpp

# Valgrind
valgrind --leak-check=full ./program

# Rust Miri (undefined behavior detector)
cargo +nightly miri run

# ThreadSanitizer
clang++ -fsanitize=thread -g source.cpp

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer1004 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.0 KiB
SKILL.md2.5 KiB
references/details.md10.8 KiB

SKILL.md