Why is std::make_unique not implemented using list initialization?

In C++20, this will compile:

std::make_unique<point>(1, 2);

due to the new rule allowing initializing aggregates from a parenthesized list of values.

In C++17, you can just do:

std::unique_ptr<point>(new point{1, 2});

That won’t work with make_shared though. So you can also just create a factory (forwarding left as an exercise):

template <typename... Args>
struct braced_init {
    braced_init(Args... args) : args(args...) { }
    std::tuple<Args...> args;

    template <typename T>
    operator T() const {
        return std::apply([](Args... args){
            return T{args...};
        }, args);
    }
};

std::make_unique<point>(braced_init(1, 2));

In C++14, you’ll have to implement apply and write a factory function for braced_init because there’s no CTAD yet – but these are doable.

Seeing how the general trend appears to prefer braces for initialization

Citation needed. It’s a charged topic – but I definitely disagree with the claim.