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

From: Paul A Bristow (pbristow_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-02-17 13:35:43

>-----Original Message-----
>From: boost-bounces_at_[hidden] 
>[mailto:boost-bounces_at_[hidden]] On Behalf Of Bruno Lalande
>Sent: 17 February 2008 17:04
>To: boost_at_[hidden]
>Subject: Re: [boost] [Boost] Compile-time power of a run-time base
>
>Here is a new version of the pow.hpp file with updated tests 
>and docs. It
>nows handles errors using the Boost.Math overflow error 
>policy, and uses
>promote_args to determine the return type.

Nice.

>I've tested it on the same platforms as before, BUT it no 
>longer compiles
>with gcc-2.95.4. The first reason was that policy.hpp includes 
><limits> that
>gcc 2.95 doesn't have so I replaced it by <boost/limits.hpp> 
>and it worked,
>but some other Boost files include other headers that are also 
>missing (ios
>for instance, included in lcast_precision.hpp). Is the support for that
>compiler required?

Not by me ;-) I would not spend time on this outdated compiler.  Surely people who really want to use a compile tile pow will be
using more modern compilers?

Docs might provide a reference or few.  I found

http://www.scl.ameslab.gov/Publications/Gus/FiveMultiplications/node9.html

by a very quick Google

I'm sure we should give Knuth his due for having done everything before we even thought of it ;-)

D.E. Knuth,  The Art of Computer Programming, Vol. 2: seminumerical Algorithms, 2nd ed. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1981.

I think occurrence has two cs and two r as well ;-)

Would the words 'compile-time integer integral power' ensure that this doucmentation pops up when Googling?

(Would the expression 'known at compile time' be clearer than 'known in advance'?)

Should there be a less formal description of the user interface - perhaps simplified from the two actual templates in pow.hpp?  It
looks more complicated than it really is in pow.hpp.

Would what I might call a 'demo' program show its use more simply for novices than the formal test ?  It could show use of policies
- something that may frighten some users - it did me at first ;-) It could show how especially useful is using try/catch is with
policies?

Paul

---
Paul A Bristow
Prizet Farmhouse, Kendal, Cumbria UK LA8 8AB
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