Re: [Boost-users] How to automatically release legacy resources?

From: Aaron W. LaFramboise (aaronrabiddog51_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-01-21 17:13:02

Mauricio Gomes wrote:

> I would create a class (File or other name) that close() on its 
> destructor.

I do not like this solution, but not because it doesn't work.  It works
just fine, and probably better than the more complicated alternatives
that I have been thinking of.

The trouble is that its 'difficult.'  Writing a class to do this takes a
small but significant amount of effort.  Maintaining code with this
class be be slightly but significantly more difficult.

In particular, in code specific to a particular problem domain (as
opposed to in general-purpose libraries), I don't like to see a whole
lot of code that has nothing to do with that domain, or adds a whole lot
of structure for very little expressive benefit.  This sort of verbosity
is a problem--I think--and a particular problem for C++.  A significant
criticism of C++ that I have heard is that the implementation of many
sorts of code requires too structure, so that there is less actual
expressive code than non-expressive code.

Aaron W. LaFramboise