[boost] [asio] Are the _at_least_n functions useful?

From: Christopher Kohlhoff (chris_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-11-10 22:18:09

Hello all,

As part of cleaning up asio's interface I am pondering the utility of
the read_at_least_n/write_at_least_n free functions. I'd appreciate
hearing from anyone who actually uses these functions (or their async
counterparts), and anyone else who has an opinion on the matter :)

The rationale for their existence is the use case where you want to
ensure that a minimum number of bytes are transferred, but are willing
to receive more than that minimum in order to minimise the number of
system calls. However I have never used them in practice, and suspect
that an application that needed that level of control might  prefer to
use the lower level (i.e. partial-read/write) functions directly.

I'm considering taking them out for now on the following basis:

- I want to simplify the asio interface to improve clarity and
ease-of-use.

- I want to get asio ready for review asap. Including the functionality
requires much more thought on how to make it elegant.

- asio is obviously useful without them.

So essentially I am proposing that the version of asio submitted for
boost review does not include this functionality. If a compelling use
case emerges in practice then the functionality can be added back after
more careful consideration of the design (and with, I believe, no
impact on other functionality). If somebody has a need right now, then
I'll look at keeping them in, but it will delay getting a version ready
for review submission.

Cheers,
Chris