Re: [boost] Old style casts and Boost style guidelines

Subject: Re: [boost] Old style casts and Boost style guidelines
From: Peter Dimov (pdimov_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-09-15 20:52:28

Edward Diener:
> Peter Dimov wrote:
...
>> (Y*)0 is so much nicer than static_cast< Y* >( 0 )... :-/
>
> It is shorter, as are most uses of old-style casts as opposed to C++ 
> new-style casts, but what makes it "nicer" ?

It's easier to read. C-style casts, in general, are shorter, but not 
necessarily easier to read, because one needs to look up the source (and 
sometimes target) types to determine what the cast actually does (is it a 
static_cast, a reinterpret_cast, a const_cast, or a combination) and whether 
it's correct. This slows the reader down, which is not nice.

In this case, though, the meaning is unambiguous. (Y*)0 is - obviously - a 
null pointer "literal" of type Y*. So it's nice. :-)