[boost] Re: Re: Pretty Good Initialization Library

From: Andrei Alexandrescu \(See Website for Email\) (andrewalex_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-07-12 08:47:27

"Vladimir Prus" <ghost_at_[hidden]> wrote in message
news:200407121609.36583.ghost_at_cs.msu.su...
> In fact, there's a general problem with all coding guidelines. One person
was
> burned (or believes it's easy to get burned) by a something, so he finds
that
> something dangerous. Other person was not burned, so he thinks otherwise.
> And if no real evidence exists, arguments can become too abstract.

How do they say... all generalizations are false? :o)

I disagree. There are coding guidelines that are generally accepted within
reason and when the forces are properly explained. For example, virtual
functions are preferable to switching on type, for objective reasons
(modularity, extensibility, flexibility). Now there are cases when that
guideline won't apply, so as long as those cases are identified and spelled
out, I think that is a fair coding guideline on which most reasonable people
would agree.

> It would be great to have some site, where folks could list designs or
> low-level idioms which lead to bugs. That would gather needed evidence.
> I used to have such list for myself, so, for example, I'll never write
>
>    for(size_t i = ..., i >= 0; --i)
>
> any more ;-) Of course, creating such global list is very hard.

In fact, here's a little guideline that everybody would agree with. :o)

Andrei