[boost] Re: documenting issues

From: Dietmar Kuehl (dietmar.kuehl_at_[hidden])
Date: 1999-07-09 19:06:23

Hi,
At 16:04 09.07.99 -0400, Beman Dawes wrote:
>Yes, I hope we can build a new category.  Papers?  That seems archaic
>when a lot of this stuff never graces a printed page anymore.
>"Articles" seems a bit better to me.

Well, a lot stuff started out as pure electronic stuff and ended up
being printed, eg. the Marshall Cline's C++ FAQ and Herb Sutter's
GotW come to mind. Also, probably due to my use of newsgroups, I
consider articles some sort of part of a discussion. Papers, although
also potentially subject to discussion and refinement, represent some
kind of knowledge gained through [scientific] work and discussion. I
would call these things papers...

>>I would offer to do this myself, but feel I don't yet understand the
>issues
>>well enough to 'edit' the mailing list's threads into an expanding
>set of
>>coherent articles.
>
>Why not give it a try, anyhow?  You might find that in the process of
>pulling discussion together, you gained valuable knowledge and
>skills.

I second Beman's suggestions for two reasons:
- The papers posted on the Boost pages will be subject to discussion
  very much as the library components are. Thus, if there sneak errors
  into the papers, they are probably pointed out by someone reviewing
  the paper.
- My own experience is that at least I learn best by writing about
  things: A lot, if not most, of the stuff I know about C++ I have
  learned during writing articles for one of the various C++ newsgroups.

Of course, I could write this one myself since I'm not an expert on
exception specifications but then, I'm currently already busy preparing
other stuff for submission to the Boost library (more precisely, I'm
currently polishing the priority queues I mentioned recently; I hope to
get this stuff finished over the weekend...).

dk

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