Re: [boost] [C++0x] Report from Frankfurt committee meeting

Subject: Re: [boost] [C++0x] Report from Frankfurt committee meeting
From: Stewart, Robert (Robert.Stewart_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-08-12 17:03:42

Sid Sacek wrote:
>
> I mean, the C# people come out with language changes every couple of
> years without any fuss or muss. But the C++ masterminds, I mean all
> those guys with PHD's as well as the programming gurus, cannot figure
> out the next stage after 10 years. What's going on?

The C++ Committee is *all volunteer*.  The proposals are all from *volunteers*.  They do what they can to make C++ stable while advancing it.  That's part of what Boost is about: try new things and use them to inform the next standard.

Microsoft, OTOH, gets to make any change they like and their customers have to deal accordingly.  Sure, MS doesn't want to irritate their customers too much, but they can get away with a lot.  Furthermore, they have only their previous version with which to be compatible rather than having to worry about C, for example.  This gives MS a lot of leeway.

> Does it really matter what comes out of this committee?  I
> don't care as
> long as I have something better, and I don't think the
> compiler writers
> care either; they're just waiting for something, anything.

Who decides what is better?  If you let vendors create something new as if it were standard, rather than requiring that you use special namespaces, __'s, etc. to access them, then you get great fragmentation of the language and lose portability.

> Maybe I'm not seeing the big picture, but I'm starting to think the
> committee is overdoing it.

Volunteer your time.  I'm sure they'd be happy to have the extra help.

_____
Rob Stewart                           robert.stewart_at_[hidden]
Software Engineer, Core Software      using std::disclaimer;
Susquehanna International Group, LLP  http://www.sig.com

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