[boost] [swap] ruminations

Subject: [boost] [swap] ruminations
From: Jeffrey Hellrung (jhellrung_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-11-03 17:22:07

1) Would it be a good idea (aside from breaking backwards compatibility) 
to insulate boost::swap from being found via ADL?  Consider another 
library, tsoob, which also has a swap intended to be used in the same 
manner as boost::swap (i.e., it finds a free function swap via ADL, 
falling back to std::swap or maybe some custom swap or whatever).  Now 
tsoob::swap and boost::swap cannot be used in the same program 
(ambiguous call to overloaded function swap) if the associated 
namespaces of the type being swapped includes both boost and tsoob 
(certainly possible).

What I'm thinking about is the possibility of creating a namespace 
boost::adl which contains (what would have previously been called) 
boost::swap, as well as any other similar free functions.  So the only 
way to invoke boost::adl::swap is to make it explicit; it will never be 
found via ADL.  Plus it helps document the underlying mechanism (ADL) of 
boost::swap.

2) Is there some way for boost::swap and tsoob::swap to coexist 
peacefully while retaining backwards compatibility for both?

- Jeff