[boost] boost::bimap [was Re: Do really property_tree and program_options overlap? ]

From: JOAQUIN LOPEZ MU?Z (joaquin_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-04-23 08:37:18

----- Mensaje original -----
De: Thorsten Ottosen <thorsten.ottosen_at_[hidden]>
Fecha: Domingo, Abril 23, 2006 9:28 am
Asunto: Re: [boost] Do really property_tree and program_options 
overlap?

> Pavel Vozenilek wrote:
> > "Thorsten Ottosen"wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>Well, I think we need both. Boost.MultiIndex is a great library 
> and can
> >>do all kinds of wonderful things. But I would still like to see
> >>a bidirectiobal map (boost::bimap) written as a wrapper around 
> it to
> >>get an easy and specialized interface.
> >>
> > 
> > bimap is available in
> >   libs/multi-index/examples/bimap.cpp.
> 
> Right, but the real value comes when somebody designs a nice
> STL-like interface and write docs etc, at least that was my point.
> 

Hello Thorsten, we have talked about this privately in the
past, but I feel like bringing it to the list in the hope
of getting the attention of potential contributors:

There are some data structures buildable with B.MI which
are regarded as particularly useful or common, like for
instance the bidirectional map or bimap. A lean and mean
implementation is provided in the aforementioned example,
but certainly a much carefully crafted interface can
be provided keeping B.MI as the implementation core:
operator[], selection of 1-1/1-N/N-1/N-N variants, 
hashing/ordering, etc.

I'm afraid I don't have the time to pursue this, as the
current roadmap for core features of B.MI is taking
all the spare time I can dedicate to the library. For this
reason, I would love to see some volunteer jumping in
who can develop this and other singular containers using
B.MI (a cache container comes to mind) and then propose
the results here either as a stand alone library of as
part of B.MI --I'd prefer the former so as to keep the size
of B.MI bounded.

If there's such a volunteer I can provide her with some
help/mentoring. I also wonder whether this is a task
suitable to be proposed for Google Summer of Code.

Joaquín M López Muñoz
Telefónica, Investigación y Desarrollo