Storing a list of arbitrary objects in C++

Question

In Java, you can have a List of Objects. You can add objects of multiple types, then retrieve them, check their type, and perform the appropriate action for that type.
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Answer 1

boost::variant is similar to dirkgently's suggestion of boost::any, but supports the Visitor pattern, meaning it's easier to add type-specific code later. Also, it allocates values on the stack rather than using dynamic allocation, leading to slightly more efficient code.

EDIT: As litb points out in the comments, using variant instead of any means you can only hold values from one of a prespecified list of types. This is often a strength, though it might be a weakness in the asker's case.

Here is an example (not using the Visitor pattern though):

#include 
#include 
#include 

using namespace std;
using namespace boost;

...

vector > v;

for (int i = 0; i < v.size(); ++i) {
    if (int* pi = get(v[i])) {
        // Do stuff with *pi
    } else if (string* si = get(v[i])) {
        // Do stuff with *si
    } else if (bool* bi = get(v[i])) {
        // Do stuff with *bi
    }
}

(And yes, you should technically use vector::size_type instead of int for i's type, and you should technically use vector::iterator instead anyway, but I'm trying to keep it simple.)