Re: [boost] [constrained_types] Use cases survey

From: Kevin Lynch (krlynch_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-01-18 10:08:12

Robert Kawulak wrote:
>   I need help in determining the most common use cases of the
> library. Therefore I ask anybody who ever needed such a facility
> to write what exactly he needed it for, what were his
> expectations and requirements for functionality and efficiency.

My use case is fairly simple:  I have a constrained, contiguous integer 
range and a second set of integers of the same size that are constrained 
but not contiguous.  The latter set is a unique "geographical" 
descriptor for an element of a particle detector, where the integer 
carries human readable location information.  The former is a 
corresponding "serial number" in a contiguous range (useful for making 
plots and addressing arrays).  Some operations are efficient in one of 
these spaces and not the other, and since I will have many terabytes of 
data at the end of the day, it would be nice if operations were as 
efficient as bare integers, and conversions between these types need to 
be fast.  Operations should be transparently integer like to the extent 
possible.

> So is ++/-- operation
> actually more common than the others that it's worth it?
> 

No

> a possibility to select
> different out-of-bounds policies for both the bounds, 

No.

> - How often would people need this library to work with types
> other than integral or floating-point? What kind of types would
> it be (cheap/expensive to copy)?

Not at all at this time

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