Re: [boost] Please don't define a fake "operator <" justfor ordered containers

From: Peter Dimov (pdimov_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-07-10 17:58:18

Jody Hagins wrote:
> On Mon, 10 Jul 2006 23:52:45 +0300
> "Peter Dimov" <pdimov_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>
>> Daryle Walker wrote:
>>
>>> Looking at <http://www.boost.org/libs/smart_ptr/shared_ptr.htm>,
>>> i.e. the Boost version, it seems that the authors fell into the
>>> "fake operator <" trap.  If any of those authors are reading this,
>>> can you tell us why you added the fake operator instead of a
>>> custom-named comparison class?
>>
>> shared_ptr defines operator< for map<shared_ptr<>, V> to work. What
>> do you  mean by "fake"?
>
>
> I think that's what he means by "fake."  You defined an operator<() so
> that it could be used with an STL container using the "default"
> comparator, while providing a
> shared-ptr-less-than-by-comparing-the-pointer comparator would be more
> appropriate.

I know what I did, but this still doesn't tell me what "fake" means in this 
context. What objective properties make an operator< "fake"?