struct Foo { Foo(int _val) : val(_val) { std::cout << "Foo...\n"; } ~Foo() { std::cout << "~Foo...\n"; } int val; }; int main() { std::unique_ptr up1(new Foo(1)); std::unique_ptr up2(new Foo(2)); up1.swap(up2); std::cout << "up1->val:" << up1->val << std::endl; std::cout << "up2->val:" << up2->val << std::endl; }