Re: [boost] [lexical-cast] version of lexical_cast in 1.46.1 is quite older than in trunk

Subject: Re: [boost] [lexical-cast] version of lexical_cast in 1.46.1 is quite older than in trunk
From: Vladimir Batov (vbatov_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-04-06 18:45:27

> Antony Polukhin <antoshkka <at> gmail.com> writes:
> ...
> Added some optimizations for casts to integral types ( you can see
> them in tickets #5417 and #5350).
> Did not used strtol/strtod (it will be hard to implement tags/ios
> flags if we`ll use them, hard to detect overflows), did not used
> spirit library (it`s too big, includes too many files, and looks like
> it`s API changes often).

Various limitations of and extension requests to the existing lexical_cast
persistently (and understandably) keep popping up on this list. Quite some time
back now I myself was requesting a few features added to it and thought it'd be
relatively straightforward. Back then I was explained by Kevlin Henney (the
lexical_cast author) and Alexander Nasonov (the current maintainer) that the
requested features were spilling over the original lexical_cast design concept
and, essentially, lexical_cast was closed for extension business (or so I
understood). That resulted in lengthy discussions (search for [convert] in
archives) where to go and how to proceed and in the end the decision has been
made to essentially branch off or to break free or to start fresh (whatever
one's preference might be) and now there has been the Convert proposal sitting
in the queue and getting ready for the review this month. I'd suggest anyone
interested in additional lexical_cast features to have a look the the proposal
if it already satisfies your needs. If not, then it's most definitely open for
improvements/extensions/ideas/etc.

Regards,
Vladimir.