Why is the use of tuples in C++ not more common?

Question

Why does nobody seem to use tuples in C++, either the Boost Tuple Library or the standard library for TR1? I have read a lot of C++ code, and very rarely do I see the use of tup

Answer 1

As many people pointed out, tuples are just not that useful as other features.

1. The swapping and rotating gimmicks are just gimmicks. They are utterly confusing to those who have not seen them before, and since it is pretty much everyone, these gimmicks are just poor software engineering practice.

2. Returning multiple values using tuples is much less self-documenting then the alternatives -- returning named types or using named references. Without this self-documenting, it is easy to confuse the order of the returned values, if they are mutually convertible, and not be any wiser.