Hello all, I have one issue, which I would like to discuss here. In my current project is a need to implement an optional type, this type is considered to be lazy. I am wondering why C++ or Boost do not offer this possibility. These are just some thoughts which are really not perfect, but an opinion and interest would be highly appreciated: template class lazy_type { public: //constructors must be considered which //should it be possible to copy this type etc. //destuctor, must be considered how the object should be deallocated in regards of owning and non-owning policies operator bool()const { return ptr_!=NULL; } Type* operator->() { if(!ptr_) { //allocate ptr_ and instantiate it using an allocator or another policy type ... } return ptr_; } private: Type* ptr_; }; This type can be a mix of reference counted ptr (shared_ptr) and allocator on request. All comments and thoughts are HIGHLY appreciated. With Kind Regards, Ovanes Markarian