I agree that it's not "all that different". It's just that years later what C++ offers is slightly worse while having more awkward syntax. Exactly like the art

I agree that it's not "all that different". It's just that years later what C++ offers is slightly worse while having more awkward syntax. Exactly like the article topic. Iterating over your maybe type was IMO an obvious thing you'd want, but it took C++ a decade to provide this behaviour in a slightly awkward way. And likewise for their maybe reference, which C++ 26 also finally lands. The original discussion papers for std::optional explain the core ideas for std::optional<T&> but apparently the possibility that it's an assign through type, a thing nobody has ever wanted, and no other language has ever provided - was so important that it blocked all work on this idea for about a decade.