Re: [boost] order of initialization of global objects (was Static data vs. inline functions)

From: Vesa Karvonen (vesa.karvonen_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-07-20 12:52:27

From: "Greg Colvin" <gcolvin_at_[hidden]>
> I notice that http://users.utu.fi/sisasa/oasis/cppfaq/ctors.html#[10.10]
> recommends the following idiom:
>
>     Fred& x()
>     {
>       static Fred* ans = new Fred();
>       return *ans;
>     }
>
> when I would have expected
>
>     Fred& x()
>     {
>       static Fred ans;
>       return ans;
>     }
>
> or am I missing something (as usual)?
>
> Anyway, a simple template for this idiom might be a useful addition to
> Boost.

See the book Modern C++ Design by Andrei Alexandrescu for a way to implement a
rather generic singleton template.

I believe a simple template might cause more problems than it would solve. For
instance, neither of the above are thread safe, and the destruction order can
still cause problems.