Re: Base from Member Formal Review

From: Daryle Walker (darylew_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-08-09 11:07:35

on 8/8/01 11:31 AM, Thomas Matelich at toms-mailing-lists_at_[hidden] wrote:

> I'll have to preface this review by saying that I have never needed this
> idiom.  I don't know what that means, except that I had trouble picturing its
> usage in my own code.  I don't have much original to say, but as I reviewed
> the code, I felt I should post something.
> 
> Like Bill Kempf, I equate this library with a singleton library, i.e. may have
> useful features, but I'll probably write my own.  In general, for a simple
> pattern, a general framework leaves me feeling constrained.  I like the
> documentation value, but usually end up ripping out the framework and putting
> in a comment.
> 
> On the other hand, a lot of programmers out there haven't read the GoF book
> and don't chase down pattern literature.  I may be wrong, but I think Boost is
> opening some people eyes to the power of STL and some of the really cool
> things you can do with C++.  So I'm in favor of finding a place in Boost for
> documenting C++ patterns/idioms, with frameworks *and* descriptions of how to
> do it by hand.  To the user who hates writing 4 line classes, instantiating a
> template seems ok, and the framework provides a reference implementation which
> documents the gotchas to be aware of.

What's the GoF book?  (I guess I'm one of the programmers that hasn't read
it.)

It is not just about not liking to write 4-line classes; it's when you have
to do it a lot of times.  Why have a whole bunch of manual classes lying
around?

> So I guess my vote would be that I am in favor of finding a place in Boost for
> this library, but I don't necessarily think that place is in utility.

I think the base-from-member classes are like boost::noncopyable.  That
class isn't technically needed either, since the developer could manually
declare a copy constructor and an assignment operator without defining them.
These classes help show intent, and only one place to debug problems.

-- 
Daryle Walker
Mac, Internet, and Video Game Junkie
darylew AT mac DOT com