Lmst

#Optionals

“#Optionals are so tedious to deal with 😮‍💨”

You know what's more tedious? #NullPointerException‎s

I wonder if it'd work to add a guaranteed non-null pointer to C++ like this:

https://gist.github.com/uliwitness/931873c0b2edaa537b905418a024be04

Update: The gist is now fully compiling code.

$/* Since shared_ptr may always be nullptr, it already is an optional. But that means we need a non-nullable version of shared_ptr. Prerequisites: 1. Can't be assigned a null value 2. Can be assigned a non-null 3. Can be copied to a shared_ptr or another nonoptional_shared_ptr Would probably also need nonoptional_shared_ptr-returning versions of make_shared<T> etc. */ using namespace std; template<class T> class nonoptional_shared_ptr { public: nonoptional_shared_ptr(const nonoptional_shared_ptr<T>& p) : _ptr(p._ptr) {} nonoptional_shared_ptr<T>& operator= (const nonoptional_shared_ptr<T>& p) { _ptr = p._ptr; } operator shared_ptr<T> () { return _ptr; } T* get() { return _ptr.get(); } T* operator -> () { return _ptr.get(); } T& operator * () { return *_ptr; } // Add more methods here that forward shared_ptr methods so it can be used same way. protected: nonoptional_shared_ptr(const shared_ptr<T>& p) : _ptr(p) {} shared_ptr<T> _ptr; friend void if_nonnullptr(shared_ptr<T> possiblyNull, function<void(nonoptional_shared_ptr<T>)> nonnullHandler, function<void()> nullHandler); }; void if_nonnullptr(shared_ptr<T> possiblyNull, function<void(nonoptional_shared_ptr<T>)> nonnullHandler, function<void()> nullHandler) { if (possiblyNull) { nonnullHandler(nonoptional_shared_ptr(possiblyNull)); } else { nullHandler(); } }$ $class Foo { public: Foo(const nonoptional_shared_ptr& p) : _neverNull(p) {} protected: nonoptional_shared_ptr _neverNull; }; int main(int argc, const char** argv) { shared_ptr<Bar> bar = make_shared<Bar>(); shared_ptr<Foo> dest; if_nonnullptr(bar, [&dest](const nonoptional_shared_ptr& p) { dest = make_shared<Foo>(p); }, [](){ cerr << "Error!" << endl; }); // Now we have an (optional) Foo, but if it exists, we know that its _neverNull is a valid pointer. return EXIT_SUCCESS; }$

Dear Friends of Options, :blobheart:

My brain (pah!) #partially #works in #instances of #sprouting. I #honour its #capacity by:

- #Random acts of #spurt
- #Forging a head, or even ahead
- Never underestimating advice I have not heard :mindblown:
- Believe in council :thinkSpin:
- It has been solved, somewhere
- The Internet is your friend?
- Walk placidly, like a cat :blobcatghostdead:
- Pirate, no parrot? Shoulder cat, hobble along
- Tea from? Nettles, #mint, peal, spices?
- Work WITH. Shout again, WITH nature
- Does not work, may not be needed
- Know Brain, no gain, Know Citizen Banned

Hope that aids your #optionals

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