Re: question on map< list<T>::iterator, int>

subramanian100in@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 India wrote:

> [example code snipped]
> However if I remove the comment, I get compilation error because
> operator '<' is not defined for list<T>::iterator. Why doesn't the
> compiler give this error for
> 'map<list<int>::iterator, int> m;' itself. That is, in this first
> statement inside main() itself, the compiler can know that the less-
> than operator cannot be defined for the key type. So, why does the
> compiler wait for an element to be pushed on to the map to flag the
> error ?

This was discussed not too long ago in a thread named
"Inserting objects into a std::map?":

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.c++/browse_thread/thread/5886d0e5eb5c4a19/a7cf8cbe50d5cd88?lnk=st

When you create a map without ever inserting, why *should* the compiler
complain?