[boost] Re: Fixed-Point Decimal Formal Review

From: Ilya Buchkin (elias_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-07-22 20:14:03

"Bill Seymour" <bill-at-the-office_at_[hidden]> wrote in message
news:3F1D3F85.69EFA3E9_at_pobox.com...
> 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.)

Bill,
I have no problem, I mentioned your non-response in my Review
only to state the current status and to explain my conclusions.
I hope that you do not take personally any of my notes either,
my only desire has been to give an honest professional critique
to the material, and to support the high standards of BOOST.

> 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

I believe your decision is most responsible and commendable
choice at this point, and that it will benefit everybody in the
long run.
As for myself, I want to thank you for your effort to propose
the solution -- I learned a lot about the issue since the time
I posted my first questions on your material, I did not realize
half of the complexity.

Regards.
Ilya Buchkin
MetaCommunications Engineering