Re: [boost] really smart pointers

From: Beman Dawes (beman_at_[hidden])
Date: 2000-07-18 07:46:39

Thant Tessman wrote:

 >Any interest in a grabage-collecting smart pointer implementation that
 >handles circular references?

There is great boost interest in smart pointers.

However, many of us have come to the conclusion that there is no one (or 
two or three or ...) smart pointer which meets all needs.

The solution to the general smart pointer problem is not to supply a 
confusingly large number of individual smart pointer classes, or to supply 
a single smart pointer with a confusingly large number of parameters (if 
that is even possible.)

Some of us are starting to focus on Czarnecki and Eisenecker's "Generative 
Programming" feature modeling and template metaprogramming techniques as a 
way to provide the desired variability in an accessible form.

So don't feel slighted if we don't get too excited about your particular gc 
smart pointer.  The general feature model comes first.

--Beman

PS:  Did you look at Greg Colvin's weak_ptr?  Greg, could you upload the 
latest version to the files/vault?