From 6045309038416351559 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f78e5,fb1a92fa405c930c X-Google-Attributes: gidf78e5,public From: David R Tribble Subject: Re: nested functions Date: 1999/06/23 Message-ID: <376685B7.AA13A046@technologist.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 492912512 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Approved: Valentin Bonnard References: <7jd4c5$nup$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <7jjjr6$r02$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <7jma5c$i85@abyss.West.Sun.COM> <37dd56e1.565652003@nntp.ix.netcom.com> <7jro7p$ntt$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <_xh83.25803$wk2.383242@newscene.newscene.com> <082d72743190c69CPIMSSMTPU07@email.msn.com> <7jvh45$5ms$1@engnews1.eng.sun.com> X-Original-Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 11:56:23 -0500 X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: Member of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy X-Auth: PGPMoose V1.1 PGP comp.std.c++ iQBVAwUAN3DNf6wEuYhIxRhxAQF9EwH/cu5TWHhIKyiFI6mLC2e/EXz6e8RslCNN Q8nY/kKcmCBWeDYhnks+7eH2RUdS6ZbGdunMw5386cEXYbBo81/SOw== =tOCa Mime-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.std.c++ Steve Clamage wrote: > Maybe you could explain how local functions that could not be > called from outside the enclosing function scope would be a > useful addition to C++. What programming problems can be solved > more easily? It seems to me that a class with member functions > solves all the same problems, and does a better job of it. It would be useful for adding local (i.e., externally hidden) functions to a class that have full access to all the class's members (by having access to their outer function's 'this' pointer) without the need for adding their declarations to the class declaration. Sort of like being able to define static functions in a source file that act like member functions (by having access to all the members of the class) without needing to be declared in the class declaration (and are thus hidden to casual readers of the class's header file). This would make it easier to hide the private implementation details of a class without revealing the names of of its private member functions in its declaration. Granted, this isn't a big win, and we usually aren't saving any effort in the long run by avoiding the extra member function declarations. I think the effort of adding local functions to C++ outweighs their benefits. Since I began programming in C/C++ in 1982, I have had the need for something resembling nested functions perhaps two or three times, and I was always able to find a reasonable existing alternative. -- David R. Tribble, dtribble@technologist.com -- --- [ comp.std.c++ is moderated. To submit articles, try just posting with ] [ your news-reader. If that fails, use mailto:std-c++@ncar.ucar.edu ] [ --- Please see the FAQ before posting. --- ] [ FAQ: http://reality.sgi.com/austern_mti/std-c++/faq.html ]