RE: [boost] Re: Fixed-Point Decimal Proposal

From: Jeff Garland (jeff_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-03-11 12:35:11

> > Maybe the name should be changed to fixed_decimal.
>
> No objection.  I'll change the name unless somebody else
> tells me not to.

I would prefer fixed_decimal as well....

> > From what I understand the advantage of the current design
> > is that I can mix and match operations on types with different
> > rounding modes.
> >
>
> Well, in the current design, types don't have rounding modes;
> but, yes, the idea is to let users do arithmetic with a variety
> of rounding modes, including user-defined rounding modes.

Let me try again :-)  I'm asking you to re-examine the basic design decision
that associates the rounding mode with the operation instead of the type.  While
I agree from a theoretical sense that this is correct I don't see the advantage
to the user.  In fact, it seems like a disadvantage b/c I have to deal
explicitly with rounding if I want multiple types in an application with
different rounding strategies by default.  I just can't do that with the current
design.  I have worked on applications where the 'type centric' approach would
have been useful.  I haven't worked on any applications where I would need the
rounding mode by operation feature.  So I was trying to you to provide examples
of why a user would prefer this approach to the 'type centric' design.

Jeff