c++ - returning bool from member variable pointer -

so i'm working code looks this:

class someclass : public somebaseclass {     somepointertoclass * p;   public:     someclass(somepointertoclass* p = null) : p(p) {};     void start(somepointertoclass* sp) {         p = sp;     }     bool hasstarted() {         return p;     } } 

i simplified stuff make short code example, think returning bool member variable pointer bit of codesmell. should change or form of c++ convention?

hasstarted() fine: in c++, pointer automatically converted bool on zero/not-zero basis.^†

some people prefer write return (p != nullptr) or return static_cast<bool>(p) instead, in order explicit intent, i'm not terribly fussy in cases this.

_{^† however, behaviour implementation-defined in c, not rely on there!}