Re: [boost] Inquiry of standardization status of boost::format

From: Doug Gregor (dgregor_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-08-15 08:57:15

On Aug 15, 2007, at 8:36 AM, manphiz wrote:
> Thanks for enlightening me on this! It seems templates may make
> printf-family something more ambitious. And following this lead, many
> plain C functions may also be excavated and refined with new power as
> well! I'm quite curious about where this is going.
>
> On the other hand, I'm also a little bit doubt about whether this is
> something that C++ will be interested in. C interfaces was introduced
> into C++ intact to maintain compatibility, and it is likely to remain
> that way.

The original idea with a variadic-templates printf() was that it  
could replace the C printf by providing a superset of the C printf  
behavior under the same interface. Basically, it means that existing  
uses of printf(), when compiled with the new variadic-templates--- 
based printf, would get run-time checking of the format specifier  
"for free."

I don't know if that's particularly useful or not. At the time, it  
was more like a flagship "hey, look what variadic templates can do!"  
idea.

> So what's going to happen? Is there any discussion in this realm?

I don't believe this is being discussed. It's too late for such a  
change to get into C++0x, so the right answer is probably to revisit  
Boost.Format to determine whether we can now do something better.

        - Doug