[boost] Re: Fixed-Point Decimal Formal Review

From: Bill Seymour (bill-at-the-office_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-07-22 08:43:33

Despite the several "yes" votes (thanks), I think I have to agree
with Ilya and vote "no" for my own library.  Of the problems
that have been mentioned, two, IMO, are show-stoppers:
the problem with the scale being immutable resulting in
inequality after assignment (if the scale isn't part of
the type), and the need for a floating-point decimal type
to hold intermediate results.

(Ilya, you're right that I haven't responded to the latter
issue.  It's not that I haven't read your posts, but rather
that I didn't think I had anything intelligent to say yet.
Please don't take it personally.)

Also, I got a note this morning from Raymond Mak of IBM in
Toronto who will be proposing a floating-point decimal TR
at the J11/WG14 session in Kona.  It's based on the proposed
IEEE 754 that Mike Cowlishaw mentioned in another Boost post.

So even if the current version of the library is accepted
into Boost, I'll be going back to the drawing board anyway.
Maybe acceptance is premature at this point.

--Bill Seymour