I'm always writing (e.g.) std::vector<double> out (size); std::transform (in.begin(), in.end(), out.begin(), func); Wouldn't it be nice to have versions of the std algorithms that worked like: template<typename out_cont_t, typename in_cont_t, typename UnaryOperation> inline out_cont_t transform_r (const in_cont_t& in, UnaryOperation u) { out_cont_t out (boost::size (in)); std::transform (boost::begin (in), boost::end (in), boost::begin (out), u); return out; } Then you can say: std::vector<double> out = transform_r<std::vector<double> > (in, func); That is, the first template parameter is the desired return container type, and the algorithm constructs the return value into it. Since constructors can be elided, I think this may be just as efficient as the original, or maybe better. OK, perhaps it looks like I didn't save much typing, but when you chain function calls you save a lot.