Re: [boost] [system] system-0.2 request for comments

From: Beman Dawes (bdawes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-07-24 20:55:39

"Gennaro Prota" <gennaro_prota_at_[hidden]> wrote in message 
news:0or7c2tvb3ij78bhn127liokq07q9l1c6e_at_4ax.com...
> On Sun, 23 Jul 2006 09:26:55 -0700, Jeff Garland
> <jeff_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>
>>The identifier is a interesting.
>
> It's much more than that! I did run and see it (proud to be the first
> downloader of version 0.2.1 :-)) and I'm enthusiastic. Too many times
> I've realized I needed something to stem the pervasive danger of
> Win32's all-is-a-dword typedefs and postponed the issue.
>
> This is one of those lovely pearl which combine elegance and
> usefulness in a way which happens to be obvious only once you have
> seen it. That's the Euclid algorithm of the type system! :-)

Thanks for the kind words!

> About the name, isn't "identifier" meant as "something which gives an
> identity" rather than as "C++ grammar identifier"?

Yes. Take a look at the Wikipedia article on third normal form at 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_normal_form

In the example, I call "part number" an identifier. It is a number assigned 
to parts to uniquely identify them. It is common for an identifier to serve 
no other purpose and its value be immaterial. So it is pretty close to what 
the database folks call a key. But the value of keys is often material, as 
in the manufacturer table in the Wikipedia article.

--Beman