[boost] Re: Probing interest in fixed dimension matrix class

From: Bob Bell (belvis_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-06-02 18:52:41

Paul Baxter <pauljbaxter <at> hotmail.com> writes:
> Many C++ vector/matrix library implementations I've seen that hide the 
> underlying structure and support variable size containers do pay a 
> significant abstraction penalty in traversing the container or in making it 
> difficult for compiler's to take advantage of additional optimisations that 
> are possible with fixed sized containers (such as cache manipulation, 
> pre-fetch).

One of the things I've always wanted to see (and have done some work on
myself) is a vector/matrix library that separates algorithm from data
structure, in a similar way that the standard library separates algorithms
from containers. A result of this approach is a high degree of
interoperability (e.g., it's possible to do things like multiply matrices
from different libraries together, using the generic "multiply" algorithm).

Bob