Re: [boost] Boost.Convert+Boost.Parameter

Subject: Re: [boost] Boost.Convert+Boost.Parameter
From: Andrey Semashev (andrey.semashev_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-02-28 13:18:23

Hartmut Kaiser wrote:

> I still don't get it. I agree that it might be favorable to have a simple
> API for type<-->string conversions. 
> 
> But as you can clearly see the requirements are piling up and it's
> everything else but simple by now. 
> 
> So I ask again: 
> 
> What's the benefit of coming up with just another full blown
> parser/generator interface in Boost?
> What's the benefit of discarding/obsoleting lexical_cast<>() as the _really_
> minimal, simple interface?
> 
> Guy's. You're trying to come up with a DSEL (domain specific embedded
> language) for parsing and generating. 
> What's it exactly you don't like in Spirits DSEL? Just the fact that it
> wasn't _you_ to come up with this particular syntax? Have you even looked?
> 
> Wouldn't it be better to use the experience the Spirit developers/users have
> collected over _years_ (!) and try to find a simpler API on top of Spirit
> directly extending from the existing one, certainly while limiting the
> possibilities in favor of a reduced feature set and a simplified usage
> model?

So far we were mostly discussing the interface. As for the 
implementation, I have nothing against using Spirit as a working horse 
for string-related conversions between the types it supports. However, I 
have expressed two requests that don't fit well (as far as I know) with 
Spirit:
1. Employ operator<< and operator>> for user-defined types.
2. Allow extension for non-string-related conversions as well.

I believe that support for these requests can live side-by-side with the 
"powered by Spirit" part that handles ints, floats, etc.