RE: [boost] Re: GUI/GDI template library

From: Brock Peabody (brock.peabody_at_[hidden])
Date: 2003-07-30 14:02:39

> -----Original Message-----
> From: boost-bounces_at_[hidden]
[mailto:boost-bounces_at_[hidden]]
> On Behalf Of E. Gladyshev
> Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 11:57 AM
> To: Boost mailing list
> Subject: RE: [boost] Re: GUI/GDI template library
> 
> > Every design will have both run-time and
> > compile-time aspects.
> 
> I agree. Where do you draw the boundary? What is the
> correct mix of these two aspects? That's the tradeoff
> I was talking about.

If a decision is based on information that cannot be known at
compile-time then you must make that decision at run-time.  There is no
choice.   We don't know the sequence of keystrokes a user will type into
an edit control, for instance.  If you have enough information to decide
something at compile time, do it then - you gain nothing by waiting and
gain an increased ability to catch mistakes earlier by doing it
immediately.

The question then becomes how much run-time flexibility you want to
incorporate into your design.  With increased flexibility comes
increased complexity.  For phase (1) of Beman's I would shoot for the
bare minimum.  Often, we will be able to add in the more flexible
run-time logic seamlessly without affecting the compile-time framework:

   row("name: ", edit(&employee::name);

Could later become:

   row(string_resource(name_string_identifier), edit(&employee::name));

Is this a better answer to your question?

Brock