Re: [Boost-users] [units]

Subject: Re: [Boost-users] [units]
From: Nathan Crookston (nathan.crookston_at_[hidden])
Date: 2013-09-16 15:09:01

Hi Robert,

Robert Ramey wrote:

> I don't remember much traffic on this list regarding this library and if I
> google information on boost C++ units library I don't get a whole lot of
> hits.  This could mean that that the library is so easy to use no one ever
> needs to ask about it or it could be that almost no one every uses it.  In
> Boost we don't gather statistics on usage by library so I don't which of
> these it might be. So my question is: Has anyone had good success with this
> library?  How much effort did it take? What did you have to do to make it
> work. I would be curious about any other user feed back in these questions.
>

I have had good success with the library -- I work on geographical
information systems, and it's been great for verifying dimensional
correctness.  I initially only used the si system, and that didn't take
much work at all.

I then created my own system, which was extremely difficult.  It took a lot
of reading of examples and source code before I was able to create a system
that met my needs -- then on two occasions I found use cases that couldn't
be supported with my system formulation.  Each time I read more code and
studied the examples and documentation until I found something that
worked.  I even think my current system is pretty good -- certainly for its
application.  But my understanding has been hard-won after lots of
confusion.  (Admittedly, my particular use is complicated by run-time
varying behavior and conversions that depend on two dimensions.)

I'm coming into boost units from a different angle than many, however -- I
wrote my own system based on Abrahams' & Gurtovoy's TMP book, then replaced
it with boost.units.  I was (and continue to be) impressed with the careful
design, and the syntactic convenience it afforded.  For me, the difficulty
has been transitioning from being a basic user of the library to moving
into advanced usage.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good idea on how the
documentation could be improved for my usage; I'll give it some thought.

In short, my experience has been extremely positive, but there have been
some stubbed toes while finding my way through the library.

Good luck,
Nate