[evincarofautumn]

Except the C++ dragon rears its head. How do you build an intelligent Maybe or Either type in C++? Should they be value types containing unions? You can’t use “non-trivial” types in unions till C++11, and a lot of people haven’t yet upgraded. Referential types with dynamic allocation? How do you transfer ownership? Are “Left” and “Right” subtypes of “Either”? It’s ridiculous.

[SamReidHughes]

The choices are clear for every situation you describe.

[evincarofautumn]

To you, to me, but not to most C++ users. Yeah, these types should be in a library, but that’s not the point. A programmer shouldn’t have to be on par with the Boost writers to make something this conceptually simple. I’ve used C++ as my primary language for years and only now can I speak with authority on the finer points of the language. It’s quite powerful, but so unpleasant.