Re: [boost] [review] Convert library

On 2014-05-26 01:25, Vladimir Batov wrote:

On 05/26/2014 12:59 AM, Thijs (M.A.) van den Berg wrote:

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On May 25, 2014, at 2:47 PM, Roland Bock wrote:

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I think it would be relatively simple to get to a much leaner interface. For instance,

* convert could have a converter template parameter, defaulting to the stringstream converter * convert::from() could have an overload that just takes the "from" parameter and provides the default-constructed converter itself. In C++11 has std::to_string and various flavours of stoul, stoull, stof. To me it makes more sense to use those for conversions between strings and integral types. Not just because of portability, but also because the interface is so simple.

The value of convert to me seems to be more in the context of generic programming for a wide range of types with a uniform interface than for a simple interface for specific types for which there are already simple & standard alternatives.

Indeed. Thank you for summing it up. When *I* try answering it turns into 4-volume "War and Piece" and by the time I finish one half is asleep and the other has left. :-)

If the ability to be used in generic programming is the main value, then why are almost all the examples in the documentation string->int? And I was not (knowingly) suggesting API changes that reduce applicability for generic programming. In fact the ability to provide a callable to handle the conversion problems is much better suited than returning a default value and testing for it, IMHO. It is probably also performing better than throwing and catching exceptions. Regards, Roland