[Please do not mail me a copy of your followup] boost-users@lists.boost.org spake the secret code <CANoJS9q8C8+1vVyPhPoiqdYPJsWwP7xHoWUNf8XMr6Qb7mbdZA@mail.gmail.com> thusly:
BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(ptr, NULL);
BOOST_CHECK(!ptr); But in general, yes, NULL is problematic for a number of reasons and that is why C++11 introduced the nullptr keyword. C++ prior to that had advocated the use of the constant 0 instead of NULL (NULL was, after all, a C-ism that C++ inherited), but in certain template constructs even that wasn't distinguishing enough between "the pointer to nothing" and "integer constant". -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book <http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline> The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org> The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org> Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>