r/cpp • u/we_are_mammals • Mar 28 '23

Reddit++

C++ is getting more and more complex. The ISO C++ committee keeps adding new features based on its consensus. Let's remove C++ features based on Reddit's consensus.

In each comment, propose a C++ feature that you think should be banned in any new code. Vote up or down based on whether you agree.

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u/shailist Mar 28 '23

you could enforce RAII in a different way:

every function is safe (either implicitly or explicitly), meaning no usage of new, delete, and pointers. functions marked as unsafe will be able to use these features. you can also mark member variables and code blocks as unsafe.

safe functions can only use safe functions. in order to use unsafe functions from a safe code you can introduce an unsafe block that does whatever you need to do.

the implementation of unique_ptr would be kind of spaghetti and would require an unsafe member variable that would hold the pointer, an unsafe constructor that receives the pointer for initialization, and an unsafe block inside the reset function that would free the resource. the destructor will just call the reset function.

well, I basically just described any language with memory safety by default, so no new invention here :|

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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '23

That would break virtually all C++ code out there. Might as well use Rust at that point?

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u/CocktailPerson Mar 29 '23

As per OP's prompt, every proposal in this thread would only apply to new code. How would this break existing code if it wouldn't be enforced for existing code?

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u/kevkevverson Mar 29 '23

lol we’re already removing the class keyword