I was just talking with Michael Ho on a review about this https://gerrit.cloudera.org/#/c/10810/7/be/src/exec/scan-node.h@271
For a while we've continued using scoped_ptr in some places because it supports a smaller set of operators and implies that the pointer isn't movable. See https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/IMPALA/Resource+Management+Best+Practices+in+Impala . I don't think we're consistently following this pattern and it seems to cause some confusion about what the best practice is, particularly for people coming from other code bases. I personally like the distinction, but I don't feel that strongly about it. What do people think? Should we continue using scoped_ptr or move away from it. There is already a JIRA to make the change but we haven't done it because of the above reasons: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/IMPALA-3444 - Tim
