Right, null_ptr will be part of C++. Nevertheless NULL was never part of C++! g++ defines it for convenience, the Intel compiler does not.
At least C++ Standard (ISO/IEC 14882:2003(E)) states: 18.1 Types [lib.support.types] Common definitions. Header <cstddef> (Table 15): [tabel with definitions follows...] The contents are the same as the Standard C library header <stddef.h>, with the following changes: The macro NULL is an implementation-defined C + + null pointer constant in this International Standard (4.10).180) 180) Possible definitions include 0 and 0L, but not (void*)0. C.2.2.3 Macro NULL [diff.null] The macro NULL, defined in any of <clocale>, <cstddef>, <cstdio>, <cstdlib>, <cstring>, <ctime>, or <cwchar>, is an implementation-defined C + + null pointer constant in this International Standard (18.1). And this is what Stroustrup states: http://www.research.att.com/~bs/bs_faq2.html#null Greetings, Ovanes