Re: [boost] Re: mpl/loki

From: Howard Hinnant (hinnant_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-07-13 12:25:48

On Sunday, July 13, 2003, at 12:17  PM, Gabriel Dos Reis wrote:

> Howard Hinnant <hinnant_at_[hidden]> writes:
>
> | Another possible spelling for this animal is:
> |
> | class nat {nat();};
> |
> | Inspired from nan.  In this case means Not A Type.
>
> Ahem, a class is a type, no matter how you name it.

Really, I didn't know that! :-)

And a nan is still a floating point number.  It just has a special bit 
pattern that alters the arithmetic rules a bit.

> | It is nice and
> | short which comes in handy for when there are a lot of template
> | parameters to default.  It is easily pronounceable, and won't be
> | confused with any other type when discussed verbally.
>
> Really?  Without reading the rest of your message, I thought it was a
> short for "natural number".  A matter of background I guess.

I'll go back to the drawing board.  Of all the people that I thought 
might appreciate the analogy, you were at the top of my list. :-)

-Howard