[boost] Re: operator bool() for smart pointers

From: Ed Brey (brey_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-05-11 11:46:46

From: "Greg Colvin" <greg_at_[hidden]>
> 
> >instead of: if (p) ...
> >write:  if ( !! p ) ...
> >
> >Using this, of course, might be contrary to the user's religion :-)  since
> >it looks akward to the unaware eye; but it can be handy to know about it.
> 
> It's actually a minor tenet of my religion, and Max calls it the
> "boolean conversion operator".  But then I prefer &*p to p->get()
> because it works with raw pointers as well as smart pointers.

The utility of &*p limited for either kind of pointer, however, since the expression yields defined behavior only if p is non-null.