[boost] Re: [range] update on ADL hooks

From: Eric Niebler (eric_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-03-23 17:38:42

Thorsten Ottosen wrote:
> "Eric Niebler" <eric_at_[hidden]> wrote in message 
> | I suggest:
> |
> | boost_range_begin()
> | boost_range_end()
> | boost_range_size()
> |
> | In general, boost libraries that use ADL customization points should
> | name the functions:
> |
> | boost_[library]_[function]()
> |
> | The idea is that these overloads are going to appear in users' code, in
> | their namespace. From a maintenence standpoint, "boost_range_begin"
> | announces more clearly that this function has to do with the Boost.Range
> | library than "range_adl_begin".
> |
> | Comments?
> 
> I do like that convention for boost.range.
> But it doesn't seem to apply to all ADL customization points;
> for example, in the pointer container lib
> 
> new_clone()
> delete_clone()
> 

But we can still come up with a convention used by any *new* ADL 
customization points. That's what you're asking about anyway, right?

> 
> Free-standing functions seems to have slightly different
> goals.

You lost me. What goals?

> 
> One consequence of using the name
> boost_range_begin() is that the users code won't
> work with the next standard library. I would like to retain
> compatibility if possible.
> 

First, there's just no reasonable expectation that boost libraries 
should be forward-compatible with some future version that gets accepted 
into the standard. Libraries change as they go through standardization 
-- that's expected. And second, the standardization committee might 
reason like I did and decide that "std_range_begin()" is a better name 
than "range_adl_begin()", and you've lost compatibility anyway.

-- 
Eric Niebler
Boost Consulting
www.boost-consulting.com