Any class that manages a resource (a wrapper, like a smart pointer) needs to implement The Big Three. While the goals and implementation of the copy-constructor and destructor are straightforward, the copy-assignment operator is arguably the most nuanced and difficult. How should it be done? What pitfalls need to be avoided?
The copy-and-swap idiom is the solution, and elegantly assists the assignment operator in achieving two things: avoiding code duplication, and providing a strong exception guarantee.