[boost] Re: Misc library documentation issues

From: Reid Sweatman (reids_at_[hidden])
Date: 1999-07-13 12:28:42

> Auto_ptr got into so much trouble by adding an apparently simple
> feature to a very simple class.  This experience makes me very wary
> of trying to add features to smart pointers.
> 
> There are an apparently endless number of smart pointers.  John Max
> Skaller has identified something like 36, each with its own feature
> set, and I don't think he even touched on some of your ideas.  If
> there are too many flavors in a library, people become confused and
> don't use any of them.

Might this not be a good way to put the traits mechanism under discussion
recently into practice?  That way, you could have a base smart pointer
class, and add functionality via the external traits method, without messing
with the underlying implementation, and without making the base class so
complex no one would use it.  The traits would still be there for advanced
users with particular needs.

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