C++98 (maybe earlier) has a similar feature: if (mytype* p = find_or_null(blah)) foo(*p); Still have to dereference p, but at least it's only in s

C++98 (maybe earlier) has a similar feature: if (mytype* p = find_or_null(blah)) foo(*p); Still have to dereference p, but at least it's only in scope when doing so is safe. Also goes well with auto and std::optional: if (auto opt = find_or_none(blah)) foo(*opt);