RE: [boost] Review: lambda library

From: Jason Shirk (jasonsh_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-03-24 02:27:37

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Abrahams [mailto:david.abrahams_at_[hidden]]
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "joel de guzman" <djowel_at_[hidden]>
> 
> > > I doubt they're quite as close to release as you make out. They
only
> > > just released 7.0 and people are not likely to adopt a
near-complete
> > > rewrite like 7.1 on short notice.
> >
> > Even after the release of 7.1, 6 will still be with us for a long
> time.
> > That's for sure. How many people are still using 5? Well 6 is a
> > good compromise I guess.
> 
> That's exactly what I've been thinking.
> 

First, 7.1 isn't even close to a rewrite.  I have no idea where anyone
might have gotten that impression.  Please don't ever mention it again,
it will scare people unnecessarily.
 
We've rewritten access control and how we handle ambiguities (we've
formalized disambiguation in our grammar, previously we had some awful
hacks that failed often enough to throw the code out.)

Other than that, we haven't really rewritten anything.  We've just been
fixing bugs and implementing new features (and cleaning up some old code
in the process.)

We have been more aggressive w/ "breaking" changes to become more
conforming, but in general it's pretty easy to port your code to the new
compiler because the "breaks" we've made have been carefully chosen and
the diagnostics are usually helpful.

Second, we are getting close to finishing up the work we have planned
for 7.1.  That doesn't mean we'll be shipping as soon as we'd like.  We
are part of a much bigger product, so our schedule doesn't always match
the shipping schedule of the whole product.

There is a very good reason for this: stability.  We use relatively
current compilers to build products like VS and Windows XP.  Shipping a
product is hard enough, if the compiler isn't stable, I can't imagine
how anyone would cope.

I'll be sure to let you know when we publicly announce the release
schedule.

Third, VC6 will be around for quite awhile.  As much as I'd love to see
VC7 (and VC7.1 for that matter) adopted quickly, the world just doesn't
work that way.  I've said it before, I'll say it again: support VC6 if
you want the largest user base.

Jason Shirk
VC++ Compiler Team