From: Andrei Alexandrescu (andrewalex_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-11-29 16:38:00
From: "Jeff Garland" <jeff_at_[hidden]>
> > 2. How would boost users have benefitted from our hosting of that code?
>
> Singleton, Multimethods, Vistor, and Factories. Real tools for building
systems
> that Boost doesn't have now. The benefits are going to be less where
Boost
> already has solutions: smart pointers, small object allocations, and
functors.
This brings up a delicate point. It is actually exactly where I thought
there's going to be much discussion; now, in light of the discussion that
already took place, it seems like that is going to be a _very_ long debate
(if I don't give up on it from the start).
The delicate point is that I plan on submitting things from Loki that
overlap with stuff that already is approved and used in boost. Take for
example functors - I am going to basically propose a total replacement of
boost's functors with an improved version of Loki's Functor (that I'm
working on), and I will bring arguments on why I think Loki's version is
superior. This is likely to annoy pretty much everybody: (1) the users of
the current boost functors; (2) the creators of the boost functors, who
obviously spent a great deal of time working on them; (3) the whole boost
community, who spent time on reviewing and improving the functors. So I have
no idea on how that is going to go.
Now that you brought smart pointers - my (and some boosters') belief is
that, on the contrary, Loki's smart pointers are perhaps the most
interesting addition to boost.
Andrei