Re: [boost] Re: lexical_cast with default value

From: Dave Dribin (dave-ml_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-05-27 15:08:53

On May 12, 2005, at 8:59 AM, Kevlin Henney wrote:
> I think that the specialisation (conceptual as opposed to templated) 
> perspective is the right way to go. lexical_cast caters for a general 
> need, but not all specific needs (it is stream-based and not 
> performance-centric), so functions that cater to more specific 
> conversions -- convert_to with default, string_to, etc -- seem to make 
> sense. It is not a load that lexical_cast should be carrying all of, 
> IMHO.

Unfortunately, writing a performance centric convert_to is not a load I 
want to carry.  For me, the lexical_cast and hence stream-based 
performance is just fine for our app.  All I want is a default value 
without littering my code with try/catch statements (of if statements, 
even).  For now, I'm just going to patch my version of lexical_cast.hpp 
with my original patch or maybe move that to an external header that 
relies on the Boost internals.  We don't mind if it doesn't quite look 
like a cast.  I guess for us, no try/catch statements trumps quasi-cast 
semantics and non-optimal performance.  If someone wants to tackle a 
performance centric convert_to or string_to, lemme know and I'll test 
it, but I'm not going to push this issue any more.

-Dave