Re: [boost] [string] proposal

Subject: Re: [boost] [string] proposal
From: Stewart, Robert (Robert.Stewart_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-01-28 15:49:56

Artyom wrote:
> From: Dean Michael Berris <mikhailberis_at_[hidden]>
>
> > And I stopped before I  write too much -- the initial version is
> > already up:
> > <https://github.com/downloads/mikhailberis/cpp-string-theory/cpp-string-theory.pdf>
> >
> I'm sorry but this "document" full of mistakes
> and misses serious points:
>
> 1. "Contiguity"
>
>    Continuity and c_str() is one of the most important
>    properties of C++ string (that is BTW required by C++0x)

"Contiguity" is the correct word.  "Continuous" is not.

>    Reason: c_str() is a boundary to almost every library
>    existing in C++ and C world. So removing this "bad" feature
>    makes it useless for vast majority of string users.

Dean must address this use case in the document, but he has suggested ways to accomplish it in this thread.

> 2. Efficiency - have you forgotten about std::string::reserve?

That isn't automatic and many don't know to use it.

> 4. About string builder. Most languages require is as they
>    don't have "reserve" also if you want efficient
>    string builder use std::ostream with nice stream buffer.
>
>    Don't copy paradigms that do not belong to C++!

Just because it hasn't been used in C++ doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.

> 5. Makeing all operations lazy you bring more segmentation
>    to memory as it is not recycled, also it reduces
>    performance as does not have "liner" location in cache/

The lazy approach means that until the result of the operations are needed, very little work needs to be done.  When the result is needed, many operations can be combined into fewer net operations.  The result is faster processing and better memory/cache usage.

> 6. Encoding is extrinsic to strings
>
>    ?!?!?!
>
>    All the discussion in started because we need UTF-8
>    in strings now we are back to the beginning?

This is disingenuous.  Dean has advocated that the encoding should be separate from the storage all along.  In that sense, yes, he's going back to the beginning.  Just because you think he should have been convinced by now that your view is correct doesn't mean that he's wrong.

> This is classic example of how trying to do something
> "cool" gives us theoretically interesting and cool things
> that are useless in real world where simple and straight
> forward things actually work a way better.

Simple and straightforward can always be implemented atop the "cool" if that's your only problem.

_____
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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