I personally try to always use std::optional<T> the same as T* To get access to a method of the inner object:  <https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/optional/operator*> operator-> <https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/optional/operator*> So to get the content :  <https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/optional/operator*> <https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/optional/operator*> <https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/optional/operator*> <https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/optional/operator*>operator* And to test if it contains a value `operator bool` This is also consistent with Expected<T, F> , unique_ptr, RefPtr etc. So I agree with you, to me, it makes it more concise and readable. I’d be happy if that went into the coding style.

On 25 Nov 2024, at 9:03 pm, Anne van Kesteren via webkit-dev <webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org> wrote:

https://commits.webkit.org/238290@main seemed to express a preference for using * over value(), but the Code Style Guidelines are silent on this. Is this something we can establish a guideline for?

I personally think * makes the code slightly more readable due to it being more concise. _______________________________________________ webkit-dev mailing list webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org https://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo/webkit-dev