[Boost-users] identity function

Subject: [Boost-users] identity function
From: Krzysztof Żelechowski (giecrilj_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-10-01 08:57:27

I use the following function on a regular basis:

template < class P_T > P_T const &same (P_T const &p) { return p; }

I use it for two purposes:

  1. to pass an identity function to an API that expects a unary function,
  2. to help the compiler identify the right chain of type conversions.

The standard uses static_cast for (2), which could be used but it disables 
some compile-time verification so I would rather not use static_cast when 
not absolutely necessary.  

I have been unable to find a corresponding feature in Boost (although the 
value factory comes close).  Do you think adding such a function to Boost 
utilities would be worthwhile?

Chris