Re: [boost] [UTF String] Feedback on UTF String library, please

Subject: Re: [boost] [UTF String] Feedback on UTF String library, please
From: Phil Endecott (spam_from_boost_dev_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-02-11 12:22:50

Chad Nelson wrote:
> I reiterate my request from this message
> <http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.boost.devel/214601>: would
> those interested in the UTF String library please comment on the new
> version?

Hi Chad,

It looks like you've started a new thread in the hope of "throwing 
Mathias off the scent".  His tone has indeed been unusually aggressive 
and it would be good to get some other peoples' comments - but to me, 
it looks like he has made a fundamentally accurate analysis of your proposal.

For example, you have this "almost" random-access feature that, IIUC, 
for UTF-8 will give you O(1) random access if you have only ASCII 
characters and for UTF-16 will give you O(1) random access if you have 
only BMP characters.  That's just horrible!  Imagine an email 
application that slows down by a factor of N when it receives a message 
with a non-BMP character in it - yuk.  IMHO, if you want to add these 
features, they should be done in a way that prevents the user from 
accidentally misusing them.  Rather than this drop-in replacement for 
std::string that misbehaves at run time, I would prefer something that 
requires some work to make it fit, but then behaves as expected.

Regards,  Phil.