...

3. T is neither copyable nor moveable -- it is like a scope guard, or boost::scoped_ptr. In this case optional<T> still provides assignment by making a "pseudo destructor call" followed by a call to placement new. -- but this gives only basic guarantee.

The guarantee is strong if the placement delete/new are marked noexcept, isn't it?

What I meant by "a >>pseudo destructor call<< followed by a call to placement new." is a call to destructor w/o releasing the memory and then a call to constructor w/o allocating memory: ob.~T(); new (&ob) T( std::forward<Args>(args)... ); This trick will provide a strong guarantee if destructor and the constructor are nothrow. While destructors usually are non-throwing, it is rather unlikely that constructors would not throw: it is the constructors that we often expect to throw in case of initialization failure. Regards, &rzej