Re: [boost] Re: any_function (callback) library

From: David Abrahams (abrahams_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-04-14 11:03:33

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Dimov" <pdimov_at_[hidden]>

> > Maybe for some people. My approach to programming is based on making
> > absolute distinctions wherever possible. So many design choices can be
> made
> > with so many degrees of freedom that I need ways to simplify my world. I
> > find ways to settle things so I don't have to keep thinking about them
(I
> > think you can see this in my approach to exception-safety). Asking me to
> > decide whether each precondition check might compete for cycles with the
> > rest of my code, or whether it might be the straw that finally pushes my
> > inner loop out of the cache will make it harder for me to write code and
> > will be a disincentive to add the precondition check at all.
>
> If you want to avoid taking responsibility for the decision, you can
always
> label the check as 'costly.'

OK. But should we use the "free" check in libraries? In that case, we're
deciding for the user that (s)he can afford the overhead.

-Dave