Re: Fwd: Re: [boost] ublas notation

From: Victor A. Wagner, Jr. (vawjr_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-07-17 03:24:17

At Wednesday 2002/07/17 01:03, you wrote:
>Joerg Walter wrote:
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jaakko Jarvi" <jajarvi_at_[hidden]>
> > To: "boost" <boost_at_[hidden]>
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 9:44 PM
> > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: [boost] ublas notation
> >
> > > Just a comment to the discussion about range syntax:
> > >
> > > Boost MultiArray uses the syntax
> > >
> > > 1 <= range() < 5
>
>Although the focus seems to be the mathematician who uses the library,
>you should also keep in mind that programmers work with it. I even think
>that a team of mathematician and programmers will work on it together.
>Thus the above syntax - although possible - is a problem for all
>programmers at it looks like a bug. New programmers usually will start
>to try:
>
>int i;
>if( 2 < i < 7 ) ...;
>
>And will realize that this wasn't a good idea.

It's a great idea, and it was IN the language BCPL from which C, then C++ 
derived.  I'm baffled that K&R&T left it out (they finally DID put back in 
// comment to end of line)

>It will also break the
>idiom of most people to always avoid code like the above. For the
>mathematician it will probably lead to further problem when they don't
>understand the internals and just look at the use of the library. They
>might think that they can also use it for other types and thus will
>create new bugs.
>
>I therefore suggest dropping the above syntax and look for other
>alternatives.
>
>Regards, Daniel
>
>--
>Daniel Frey
>
>aixigo AG - financial training, research and technology
>Schloß-Rahe-Straße 15, 52072 Aachen, Germany
>fon: [phone], fax: [phone]
>eMail: daniel.frey_at_[hidden], web: http://www.aixigo.de
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Victor A. Wagner Jr.      http://rudbek.com
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