RE: [boost] Standard Math Constants?

From: Beman Dawes (beman_at_[hidden])
Date: 2000-07-13 08:58:04

Paul A. Bristow wrote:

 >> boost seems to prefer all lower-case identifiers with underscores as
 >> separators, so it's "half_pi" instead of "halfPi".  Aliases (sqrtTwo
 >> and rootTwo) should be avoided.  The naming should be consistent
 >> (gammaThird vs. thirdPi and sqrtE vs. eSqr).  Probably define
 >> an explicit naming policy so that others can add further constants
 >> with a compatible naming.
 >
 >I am concerned that the use of _ within names will make them unacceptably
 >long.
 >oneDivSqrtTwoPi versus one_div_sqrt_two_pi.
 >(Of course my preference is colored by my use of the mixed case style).
 >But I willing to be guided if there are strong views on this.

We worked through this issue in detail, and over a long period of time, on 
the C++ committee.  The discussion was repeated, abet briefly, in early 
boost postings.  A short summary:

*  Naming conventions are contentious, and although several are widely 
used, no one style predominates.

*  Given the intent to propose portions of boost for the next revision of 
the C++ standard library, boost decided to follow the standard library's 
conventions.

*  Once a library settles on a particular convention, a vast majority of 
stakeholders want that style to be consistently used.

*  There is a strong preference for clear and descriptive names, even if 
lengthy.

So please do follow the lowercase/underscore naming convention (with 
uppercase macro names).

(Boost guidelines don't currently say anything about names.  I'll add 
something.)

--Beman