Re: [boost] Adding Loki to Boost (reprise)

From: Emily Winch (Emily.Winch_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-04-10 08:34:04

From: "joel de guzman"  
> I tend to agree with Andrei. I would certainly hope to see a 
> *smaller* typelist library without all the bells and whistles. Such 
> a library can be the least common core subset that can be used by 
> both mpl and loki, not to mention that countless other libraries 
> will benefit from it.

It seems to me that the aim of the MPL is to provide a foundation for
libraries such as Loki, so that those libraries can concentrate on
domain-specific tasks rather than metaprogramming trivia. Handling typelists
is a major part of its job. If people are finding that the core facilities
of the MPL are _not_ suitable for their intended purpose, I think it would
be worth some considerable effort to establish exactly what are the
difficulties with the MPL, and to address those issues _within the MPL_, as
well as or instead of recreating a subset of its features.

Is it really possible to create one metaprogramming library that addresses
the needs of the majority of the people the majority of the time? If not,
why not? and if so, let's make sure we have it! Even if this turns out to be
quite a long term aim.

This is really a plea for some solid constructive criticism of the MPL
coming out of all this.

Emily, putting her oar in.