C++ Memory Management Techniques/Practices

I've started a project in C++. Memory management in this language is new to me. I used to create objects with `new ()` and then pass around pointers and while it worked, it was a pain to debug and people looked at me funny when they saw the code. I am quite proud of the fact that it didn't leak or segfault (once fixed), but it really was a lot of effort. ``` list <struct Connection *> users; struct Connection * accept_connection (const char *name) { struct Connection * new_node = new Connection (); new_node->_data = ... // whatever, set it up here return new_node; } struct Connection * new_user = accept_connection (const char *name); users.append (new_user); ``` So I have a new strategy for this next version of the project. So far what I am doing is creating objects with `new ()` and assigning them a unique integer ID number. I then store the object in a hashed table using the ID as a key. Now items are stored and passed around by the integer ID number and when you do need to de-reference it, you go to the hash table and it returns you either `thing *` or `NULL`. Hence I no longer experience pointer errors but the speed of the code is somewhat reduced. ``` typedef unsigned long ID_Number; // create a user and return the ID ID_Number create_user () { ID_Number new_id = assign_unique_id (); struct User * node = new User (); node->_id = new_id; node->_data = ... // whatever, set it up here add_to_users_dict (new_id, node); return new_id; } list <ID_Number> users; for_each (users.begin(), users.end(), process_user); void process_user (ID_Number i) { struct User * u_ptr = lookup_user_dict (i); if (u_ptr == NULL) { // not found in dict // somehow this guy was deleted } else { // we can do stuff with this guy } } ``` Now I am sort of familiar with the basic tenets of programming but being a self-taught hobbyist I am not familiar with the industry practices and tools. What I am basically asking for, is guidelines on memory management: 1) What am I doing right or wrong? 2) Are there any packages or libraries I can use that would help me? 3) What the the standard practices of the industry? 4) Basically what should I be googling or buying for kindle etc? Today I usually use Python, it does handle a lot of "back end" stuff for me, but I need C or C++ (I guess I'm using plain C plus the stdc++ libs, I am not quite sure where the overlap between the languages is - I just know g++ compiles it fine) for this one particular project for speed/performance reasons: although I suspect some maths genius could provide algorithmic fixes that would speed it no end, though that's a separate question.