Re: [boost] On shared_xxx

From: David Abrahams (david.abrahams_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-09-03 07:21:27

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Dimov" <pdimov_at_[hidden]>
To: <boost_at_[hidden]>
Sent: Monday, September 03, 2001 6:38 AM
Subject: [boost] On shared_xxx

> Two observations: (sorry for not responding in the thread, I was too quick
> with the Del key.)
>
> Policy-based smart pointers:
>
> There is a break-even point past which a custom smart pointer constructed
by
> defining the appropriate policies becomes harder to write, more error
prone,
> less readable and less efficient compared to simply implementing the class
> from scratch. And coming up with a good policy-based design (one with a
> reasonable break-even point) is difficult.

I think we learned some things from the iterator adaptor library, which
AFAICT has been a success. I'm not sure we can apply all of those lessons,
but it may yet be possible. The first thing missing is a Pointer Concept
family definition along the lines of the Iterator Concept family.

-Dave