Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!ateng!chip
From: chip@ateng.uucp (Chip Salzenberg)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: Friend specifier considered harmful
Message-ID: <1988Sep2.174327.6439@ateng.uucp>
Date: 2 Sep 88 21:43:26 GMT
References: <61@cybaswan.UUCP>
Reply-To: chip@ateng.UUCP (Chip Salzenberg)
Organization: A T Engineering, Tampa, FL
Lines: 16

According to eeartym@cybaswan.UUCP (Dr R.Artym eleceng ):
>	Do YOU have a c++ program that couldn't have been written without
>the friend specifier?

Well, there is almost no language feature which is truly indispensible, but
I used "friend" once where it proved very useful: an implementation of a
hash table.

The HashTable class contains an array of pointers to HashNode.  Each
HashNode contains a pointer to the next HashNode.  I made HashTable a friend
of HashNode.  This allowed easy access to the HashNode "next" pointer but
_only_ for HashTable member functions.
-- 
Chip Salzenberg                <chip@ateng.uu.net> or <uunet!ateng!chip>
A T Engineering                My employer may or may not agree with me.
	  The urgent leaves no time for the important.