Current version of C++ can handle empty and zero-size types quite well, though you are correct that older versions of C++ had limited support (and non-existent

Current version of C++ can handle empty and zero-size types quite well, though you are correct that older versions of C++ had limited support (and non-existent pre-C++11). I create and use them regularly when metaprogramming. The bigger issue is that all of this new capability can't be easily grafted onto the old standard library. If you were to write a re-designed standard library from a C++20 baseline, and some people do, it is a dramatically different experience. Modern C++ is an amazing library-building language but the 'std' library it comes with is legacy rubbish in many regards.