Re: [boost] [SoC] multi precision arithmetic library, mentoring request

From: Tobias Schwinger (tschwinger_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-04-30 14:53:02

Hi Mateusz & Boost community / moderators,

Mateusz Rukowicz wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I would like to participate in summer of code 2006. I was very surprised 
> that boost doesn't have multi precision arithmetic, and since I'm quite 
> algorithm/C++ concerned, I wish to propose/make it as a SoC project. 

I did some work in this area which I was planning to eventually boostify some day. 
In fact, I thought about SoC participation with this very project but decided that it would be too much for my schedule.

Since I put a lot of thought into the design, I hereby volunteer to (maybe co-)mentor this project. 

Here is a quick overview of what I have, so far:

1. a tested draft set of fairly efficient algorithms for arbitrary precision 
   arithmetic on natural numbers 
2. an allocation scheme that allows to have one allocation per operation, worst 
   case
3. the concept of an expression template framework that allows:
   - truly intuitive conversion rules (e.g. division of two integers assigned 
     to a rational gives a correct, non-truncated result),
   - exploiting destructibility of temporaries to reduce copying/allocation, and
   - allocation of temporaries on the stack.

I'd like to sustain in-depth technical discussion until the organizational things are cleared up. 

Given that the Boost moderators find myself worthy for the job, my next step would be investigation of previous work in this field and a summary for the Wiki page.

Best regards,

Tobias