Re: [Dev-C++] Re: Design decision in C++

[Doug M. <dou...@al...>]

Per and Kevin,

Thanks for your advice.

My ambivalence wrt the Singleton<DataType> class is in part due to the 
instance pointer offset hack, which seems to introduce a risk of 
implementation dependency: are base and derived classes always included 
in a standard order with offsets that never vary from compiler to 
compiler?.  Further, the instance pointer adjustment involves pointer 
<-> int casts that are a bit ugly, despite the elegance of Singleton as 
seen from the outside.

But I take your points as to the limited desirability of fully static 
classes.

(I guess declaring a top-level static _instance_ of a class is a 
different matter, and is useful, e.g., when there is no C++ main 
routine, as was the case in a former project of mine at my last employer.)

--Doug