http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=56004
Bug #: 56004 Summary: Possible bug with decltype and access modifer order Classification: Unclassified Product: gcc Version: 4.7.2 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: normal Priority: P3 Component: c++ AssignedTo: unassig...@gcc.gnu.org ReportedBy: david.irv...@maidsafe.net Please see this stackoverflow question for an overview. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14188535/clang-access-modifier-order-and-decltype The issue seems to be that the private members are not visible at compilation to the decltype call. This is a minimum example (from the question). (I am the questioner in this case). This also seems to appear as a 'bug' in gcc but not msvc (12). I am not 100% convinced but cannot find in the standard why this will not work. I hope this helps. #include <future> #include <iostream> #include <thread> #include <vector> template <class T> T &self(T &t) { return t; } template<typename T> struct Dependent { }; template<typename T> class Synchronised : Dependent<T>{ public: explicit Synchronised(T t = T()) : t_(t) {} template<typename Functor> auto operator()(Functor functor) const ->decltype(functor(self(*this).t_)) { //auto operator()(Functor functor) const ->decltype(functor(this->t_)) { std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mutex_); return functor(t_); } private: mutable T t_; mutable std::mutex mutex_; }; int main() { Synchronised<std::string> sync_string("Start\n"); std::vector<std::future<void>> futures; }