Re: [boost] Re: A class template for an N-dimensional generic resizable array

From: Beman Dawes (beman_at_[hidden])
Date: 2000-12-11 09:48:00

At 09:17 AM 12/11/2000 -0500, Ronald Garcia wrote:

 >Another issue which may come to mind with respect to arrays is
 >modifying the index value, perhaps to index by 1 as Fortran
 >does. Blitz++ allows this for instance, as well as arbitrary
 >indexing.  I'm not convinced that this should be a feature in such a
 >library.  For starters, I don't think users of such a library should
 >be writing Fortran code in C++.  While it may make a few cases more
 >convenient during writing, it can lead to a maintenance nightmare
 >(where does my index start?).  Indexing of that sort can be handled
 >external to the library.  This issue is different from the issue of
 >adding a Fortran view in that the fortran view doesn't alter the
 >interface as seen by the library user (so long as indices are not
 >changed to start at 1).

FWIW, I've heard this argument several times from members of the C++ 
standards committee, with much nodding of heads in agreement as it was 
being made.

--Beman