I don't know what code Walter is referring to but I had similar experiences during a presentation of the Boost Spirit library (at our Silicon Valley C++ Meeting

I don't know what code Walter is referring to but I had similar experiences during a presentation of the Boost Spirit library (at our Silicon Valley C++ Meeting; must be about a decade ago now). The speaker was proud and beaming for showing how powerful C++ is and the audience was in awe. I was incredulous! Jaw open! The "solution" was horrible with a bunch of workarounds for a bunch of shortcomings. It was a "the emperor does not have cloths" moment for me. Boost Spirit may be better today with newer C++ features; I don't know.