Re: [boost] Namespace for a Boost Hashing Library

Subject: Re: [boost] Namespace for a Boost Hashing Library
From: Scott McMurray (me22.ca+boost_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-05-11 11:21:07

On 11 May 2010 05:23, Paul A. Bristow <pbristow_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>
> And there are other related hash functions like ISBN and Visa card check characters that could usefully be provided in
> the same name/space?
>

Things are set up to give a digest in a way that can easily and
portably be read from and written to an octet stream (like a socket or
file) as a check on an entire message.  There's a fundamental
assumption that the input could be arbitrarily long, and currently the
output is assumed to be a multiple of 8 bits.

So in theory yes, but practically a different set of concepts might be
better, given the different properties of the inputs and the small
size of the outputs for things that are more like parity checks.

>
> (BTW Is there interest in these functions for a GSoC?)
>

New hash functions would definitely be possible as a GSoC, but it
would almost certainly have to be plural.  With the concepts and
infrastructure already in place, adding a new checksum is usually a
pretty simple task.