Ok, I've just discovered boost::bind, and it is a marvelous discovery :-) Now, I do seem to have a problem: the operator overloading for logical operators seems to work on its own, but not when I apply it within standard algorithms such as find_if. Still, the bind documentation states that this should be possible, and gives examples such as: std::remove_if( first, last, !bind( &X::visible, _1 ) ); std::find_if( first, last, bind( &X::name, _1 ) == "peter" ); If we look at some simple test code I wrote: int add3( int i ){ return i + 3; }; int main() { int x = 2; int y = 5; bind( add3, _1)(x) == y; // Compiles find_if( l.begin(), l.end(), bind<int>( equal_to<int>(), bind(add3, _1), y) ); // Compiles find_if( l.begin(), l.end(), bind(add3, _1) == y ); // Doesn't compile } From the last line I get the following error message: error: no match for 'operator==' in 'boost::bind [with R = int, B1 = int, A1 = boost::arg<1>](add3, (<unnamed>::_1, boost::arg<1>())) == y' I'm puzzled why the standalone bind expression containing == does compile, whereas the one inside find_if doesn't. Of course, I do have a functional equivalent I can work with in the first find_if line, but it does seem neat to be able to write more readable code, as in the examples. Anyone care to explain this to me? Ok, standard disclaimers: I use the g++ 3.4.4 compiler on Fedora, I did include all necessary boost:: and std:: namespace stuff in my code, but left it out in this post, and I have no clue whatsoever which version of boost I have installed ( Can I find it in the code somewhere? Otherwise I'll ask the sysadmin which version he installed when I see him.). -- Alex Borghgraef