Re: [boost] New Boost.XInt Library, request preliminary review

Subject: Re: [boost] New Boost.XInt Library, request preliminary review
From: Scott McMurray (me22.ca+boost_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-03-29 11:12:00

On 29 March 2010 01:40, Chad Nelson <chad.thecomfychair_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>
> An unavoidable consequence of having a Not-a-Number value. Fortunately,
> the check is extremely fast.
>

But not an unavoidable consequence, since there's nothing that
necessitates that XInt allow a NaN value.

>
> Not acceptable. I want it to be easily portable, which means it has to
> compile even if the machine doesn't support any cryptographically-secure
> random number generator that the library recognizes. The developer using
> it can always plug in a generator that gets entropy from something the
> library doesn't know about, like an Internet site dedicated to that,
> after all -- they do exist.
>

If the library is promising something cryptographically-secure, then
failing to compile when it can't is the *best* possible response.
Quietly doing something else is the worst possible option when it
comes to security.

If the library can't provide entropy, then it should require that the
user provide some before compiling anything that demands entropy.