Re: [boost] [parameter] type predicates vs. concepts

Subject: Re: [boost] [parameter] type predicates vs. concepts
From: lcaminiti (lorcaminiti_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-12-18 07:16:36

Dave Abrahams wrote
> 
> on Fri Dec 16 2011, "Jeffrey Lee Hellrung, Jr."
> <jeffrey.hellrung-AT-gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> On Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 8:26 AM, Lorenzo Caminiti
>> &lt;lorcaminiti@&gt;wrote:
>> [...]
>>
>>> I'm asking because Boost.Contract will support both type predicates
>>> and concepts so I need to tell the users why they can use both, when
>>> to use concepts, and when to use type predicates. Actually,
>>> Boost.Parameter also supports both because it can be used together
>>> with Boost.Concept so IMO it'd be nice to add the same explanation to
>>> Boost.Parameter as well.
>>>
>>
>> I don't think Boost.Contract nor Boost.Parameter is special in this
>> regard.
>> The guideline I follow is: use type predicates only to differentiate
>> between overloads via SFINAE; otherwise, use concept assertions, as they
>> typically provide more informative error messages and don't complicate
>> the
>> function signature.
> 
> I mostly agree, but there are a few exceptions to that rule.  One is
> when you're writing conversion operators, constructors, or other
> operations with broadly-understood semantics: if you don't use SFINAE to
> take them out of contention when they don't apply, then other people
> using traits (usually relying on SFINAE tricks themselves) will get the
> wrong answer for, e.g., is_convertible&lt;T,U&gt;, has_addition<T>, etc.
> 

I think a (bad) example of that is the implementation of operator== for
std::vector<T> which is not taken out of overload resolution using SFINAE
when T does not have an operator==. Then has_equal_to< std::vector<T> > is
true even when has_equal_to<T> is false, making necessary to explicitly
specialize has_equal_to for vectors (and other containers) to work around
this :(

Another example of when you want SFINAE to fail the overload instead of a
concept error is to distinguis deduced parameters for which you will always
use type predicates (as far as I can tell).

(I will add the result of this discussion to Boost.Contract docs.)

--Lorenzo

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