Beman Dawes wrote:
One particular concern is that as currently worded, the N2838 proposal requires throws() return a null reference, which they see as relying on undefined behavior. ...
Although I could personally live with either form, I'm leaning slightly toward the pointer form.
Regardless, I'd like to hear Boosters views on the two interfaces above. Which do you prefer? Why?
I don't know the details, but I also would prefer the pointer interface. "null reference" reminds me of somebody actually checking against a null reference: void f(int& r) { if (&r) // check whether r is a null reference ... ; g(&r); } I have no problem if "r" could be undefined, i.e. somebody called "f(*p);" with a "p" that is null or undefined. I also don't have a problem if "g" checks the pointer it is passed in against null. However, if "f" itself checks its argument against being a null reference, then I'm disappointed. As another poster said: "I thought one of the selling points of references was they can't be null." I could probably live with returning an "undefined reference", and if somebody prefers this "undefined reference" to actually be a null reference to simplify debugging, why not. But as soon as he explicitly checks the reference against actually being a null reference, I think he is doing something wrong. Regards, Thomas