Re: [boost] Interval Library and comparison operators

From: George A. Heintzelman (georgeh_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-09-05 16:53:02

> How would you define the mid-point relation for elements having
> identical midpoints, but varying extension, such as [1, 5] and [2, 4]?
> Since we want a total ordering, and not be forced (through the
> "equivalent if incomparable" hypothesis of the STL library) to have them
> be equal...

The midpoint relation isn't a total ordering. It *is*, however, a 
strict weak ordering, which satisfies the requirements for defined 
behavior in std::sort. [1,5] and [2,4] are part of the same equivalence 
class for this ordering.

If you wanted to extend this to a total ordering, you could, but I 
don't think it's necessary, and would add overhead to operator<. 
Furthermore, I don't think there is an intuitive definition to choose 
in this case, so it will be one of those things that people are 
continually looking up.

George Heintzelman
georgeh_at_[hidden]