From: Reid Sweatman (borderland_at_[hidden])
Date: 2000-07-25 11:01:43
> But seriously, the trouble with template metaprogramming
> is that the syntax was never designed for the purpose,
> so it's just terrible to read and write. So while there
> is no good reason to use macros to turn C++ into Pascal
> when the C++ is perfectly readable, a set of macros that
> let you write readable metaprograms might be quite useful,
> if only the C preprocessor wasn't so brain-dead.
Well, I hate to suggest anything that goes outside the C++ language spec and
available tools, but there are plenty of other readily available things that
make wizard preprocessors; you just have to invoke them in the make before
the compiler. My favorite is PERL, but I've used AWK and rolled my own
oddities for special purposes. And while I haven't looked at it yet, I
understand Python would be as good a choice. I guess a second problem would
be picking a standard <g>. At least, PERL's free on just about every
platform. Anyway, I'm guessing the mere fact that it's not a native C++
tool will kill any interest for the suggestion in this list. Still, thought
I'd toss it out. I guess the real solution is to get a worthwhile
preprocessor added to the language spec. Dunno what the odds are, though.
Reid Sweatman