Re: [boost] Compile-time power of a run-time base

From: Bruno Lalande (bruno.lalande_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-02-10 18:56:13

Hi,

You will find attached to this mail the header file of the pow function, a
cpp test file and the documentation in .qbk format.
I tried to write docs and tests in accordance to those found in the math
library.
The files are ready for integration since I placed them respectively into
boost/math, libs/math/test and libs/math/doc in my own environment. Let me
know if anything has to be changed or added.

I passed the tests on :
- gcc-2.95 (debian)
- gcc-3.3 (debian)
- gcc-3.4 (debian)
- gcc-4.1 (kubuntu)
- icc-10.1 (debian)
- msvc-8.0 (XP SP2)
- msvc-9.0 (XP SP2)

It didn't compile with msvc-6.5. It's not surprising since, if I remember
well, this compiler doesn't handle partial template specialization even with
SP5. Is this compiler still officially supported by Boost?

There is one case for which I don't know what to do : the pow<negative
value>(0) case, which obviously crashes since it consists of computing 1/0.
Should I check it and throw something, or let the platform's division by 0
behavior (if any) do its effect? I personally think the first approach is
better since it ensures an uniform behavior accross platforms.

The return type is a double. Now I'm going to study the possibility of
having different possible return types.

Regards
Bruno