Re: [boost] Re: Determining interest in combining_iterator

From: Thomas Becker (tmbecker1_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-03-26 04:48:30

> Anthony Williams wrote:
> The particular example I cited in the
> article is where a colleague
> had a pair of vectors which were the x and y values
> respectively for a
> graph. They were supplied as two vectors, and the
> graph drawing code required
> them as two vectors, yet the analysis code in the
> middle required a sequence
> of (x,y) pairs

I have to admit this very example has convinced me
that my original approach is right. Suppose we were to
write, as you suggest, an iterator adaptor that holds
a tuple of iterators and, upon dereferencing, returns
a tuple made from the dereferenced iterators. What
would we have done for the person in your example?
Nothing. He needs a *pair*, not a tuple. The big
picture is: we want an iterator that parallel-iterates
through several sequences, and upon dereferencing,
applies some user-defined (via a functional)
prossesing to the dereferenced iterators. If the
desired result is a pair, supply a functional that
makes a pair from its arguments. In my applications, I
want a number that is calculated from the dereferenced
iterators, so I supply something like std::divides. If
the desired result is a tuple made from the
dereferenced iterators, no problem, supply a
functional that makes a tuple from its arguments. If
we used your approach, we would give this one special
type of processing, where a tuple is made from the
dereferenced iterators, a very special and prominent
place in the design. Why? It's just one of infinitely
many things that someone might want to do.
(Ironically, it's the one for which we have not seen a
real-life need.) My general approach covers it with no
fuss and no overhead. One simple iterator adaptor that
does it all. We get everything that we would get in
your approach, and it's simpler and more
user-friendly. Unless I'm missing something...

Thomas Becker
Zephyr Associates, Inc.
Zephyr Cove, NV
thomas_at_[hidden]

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
http://platinum.yahoo.com