Re: [boost] [xint] Boost.XInt formal review

Subject: Re: [boost] [xint] Boost.XInt formal review
From: Dick Bridges (Dick.Bridges_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-03-09 11:21:49

> -----Original Message-----
> From: boost-bounces_at_[hidden] [mailto:boost-
> bounces_at_[hidden]] On Behalf Of Chad Nelson
> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 7:35 AM
> To: boost_at_[hidden]
> Subject: Re: [boost] [xint] Boost.XInt formal review
<snip>
> Brilliance and BS are indistinguishable to someone who doesn't have a
> complete grasp of all the issues involved. You can waste a lot of
> valuable programming time in trying to understand a suggestion at a
> deep enough level to agree or refute it, only to find that the original
> suggester had no idea what he was talking about.
> --
> Chad Nelson
> Oak Circle Software, Inc.

Chad, as an 'old guy' and nothing more than a lurking outsider, allow
me to offer an alternative interpretation: You never really know a topic
until you try to teach it - or, in this case, 'sell' a library to the
group at boost.org. What you refer to as a 'waste', I would interpret
as 'due diligence'. More than simply adding some library, IMHO you are,
in a very real sense, in the process of establishing yourself as the
"go to" person for large integers within the boost community. That's a
lofty goal and will require that you NEVER stop learning.

(A word of warning though: if you thought the last 5-6 months effort
was a lot of work on your part, think about the next 5-6 *YEARS*
if|when your library is accepted.)

Just my $.002

Dick Bridges
Western Digital