July 24, 2026
Pointer? I hardly know her
The PImpl idiom and the C++26 std:indirect type
C++ fans are split as a new shortcut promises less pain but more stuff to learn
TLDR: C++26 adds a standard tool to make an old code-hiding trick easier and safer. Commenters were split between “finally useful” and “why is this language adding even more to remember,” with several wondering whether this solves a common problem or just adds fresh confusion.
A very old C++ trick just got a shiny upgrade, and the comments immediately turned into a group therapy session. The article explains a classic method called PImpl—basically, hiding a class’s messy inner workings behind a pointer so changing the guts doesn’t force huge rebuilds. In plain English: keep the outside simple, stash the chaos in the back room. The new C++26 tool, std::indirect, is meant to make that easier and safer, replacing a lot of hand-written memory management with something from the standard library.
But the real fireworks were in the reactions. One camp was relieved: finally, a built-in way to handle a pattern that can be useful in big projects. The other camp sounded deeply tired. User shevy-java dropped the mood of the thread in one line by saying C++ keeps getting more complex and that “the cake is a lie,” which is exactly the kind of gamer-meme despair this language seems to summon on cue. zabzonk asked the killer question: do people even use this technique often enough to deserve official support? That sparked the classic C++ identity crisis—helpful feature or yet another thing developers must memorize forever.
There was also the usual “sounds nice, but what’s the catch?” energy. Commenters wondered about hidden gotchas, dreamed aloud about a simpler “diet C++,” and even spun off into side-drama over why the language still can’t give people a non-null smart pointer. In other words: one new helper arrived, and the community responded with skepticism, fatigue, existential debate, and a few very good jokes.
Key Points
- •The article defines PImpl as a C++ technique that hides implementation details in a separate class accessed through an opaque pointer.
- •It demonstrates a raw-pointer PImpl implementation with a `Widget` class whose hidden `Impl` stores a label and click counter.
- •Because the class manages a raw pointer, the example follows the Rule of Five by defining destructor, copy/move constructors, and copy/move assignment operators.
- •The move operations are marked `noexcept`, which the article says affects whether containers like `std::vector` move or copy elements during reallocation.
- •The article identifies two pitfalls of raw-pointer PImpl: constness does not propagate to the implementation object, and a moved-from object may hold a null pointer, making later method calls undefined behavior.