It is commonly recommended in C++ to publicly inherit from classes which have virtual destructors, to avoid possible memory leaks. Here I present a pointer class which allows us to polymorphically use a base class without requiring a virtual destructor.

Assuring invariants can be a tricky endeavour in C++. Here are some techniques included a simple pointer class, which can help make life easier.

There is appears to be a school of thought that code coupling is to be avoided at all costs. This is a frustrating over-simplification.

At Matthew Wilson's behest, I have attempted to further explain my rationale behind separate extension classes, and contract verification classes. It turns out they fit very nicely in a design pattern which Matthew refers to as a bolt-in.

I am working on the OOTL collections library right now, and I am facing a design dilemma: is it better to use initializing constructors or to use two stage construction.

My colleague Matthew Wilson made a post recently suggesting that overloading operator&() should be avoided. While I agree with much of what he says, I would like to suggest a valid use for overloading operator&() which enables writing safer code.

I am working lately a lot on dynamic typing and functional programming in C++. I've recently hacked Kevlin Henney's cool boost::any type and introduced a variation, which allows referencing of values of any type without copying.

Hygenic macros can not access the local scope where they are expanded, while unhygenic macros (as found in C) can. I want the best of both worlds!

A lot of programmers have preconceptions about C++, and very fixed ideas about what can and should be done with it. I plan on shaking this up a bit with an upcoming column called Agile C++, as well as through my work on the Object Oriented Template Library.

I believe that using a typical web browser as an interface to certain online services is inherently flawed and a better separate technology is need.

So what's up in the world of Diggins.

The source of the Boost C++ library version 1.32.0 as html with coloured source is now posted at http://www.ootl.org

I have just finished a prototype interpreter for Unimperative, a functional programming language which happens to be also valid C++.

The Boost Interfaces Library for C++ by Jonathan Turkanis has now been officially announced on the Boost mailing list.

When people think of code-reuse they usually think of function libraries, object hierarchies or cut-and-paste. A very powerful and too frequently overlooked method of code reuse is reuse of programs.