From: Niall Douglas (s_sourceforge_at_[hidden])
Date: 2021-01-25 21:36:00
On 25/01/2021 20:44, Edward Diener via Boost wrote:
> I offer all this up
> as a possibly valid reason why testing a Boost library on some other
> platform/architecture, other than the usual Intel x64 on
> Mac/Linux/Windows, is not going to be a big priority for any Boost
> library developer/maintainer.
I would take the view that over half of all computing devices where C++
is likely to run are ARM or AArch64.
Therefore one ought to be targeting one's code at those preferentially
to other architectures.
You're right that for high level libraries, C++ is generally very
portable. But for low level libraries, and any high level libraries
which depend on those low level libraries, there can be some _very_
nasty surprises e.g. ARM does not implement all of IEEE 754, and ARM is
strict about use of acquire-release atomics as well as alignment in a
way x64 is not.
Therefore, in my opinion, if your code works well on ARM, it's very
likely to work on x64. But the reverse is not true.
Niall