[boost] [naming] standard: bitwise operations in the new standard (20.8.7)

Subject: [boost] [naming] standard: bitwise operations in the new standard (20.8.7)
From: Joachim Faulhaber (afojgo_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-04-29 07:37:35

Dear list,

this posting is addressed specifically to those people who are
involved in the standardisation process for c++. As far as I know

Beman, Howard, Dave, Doug, ...

On occasion of the Boost.TypeTraits extension we were discussing names
for operators and operator call traits. As an important aspect, naming
consistency with the standard and across boost libraries has been
discussed.

We have found that functors on bitwise operators

// 20.8.7, bitwise operations:
template <class T> struct bit_and;
template <class T> struct bit_or;
template <class T> struct bit_xor;

are new in the upcoming standard and are named using prefix

bit_

In contrast to that, within boost, entities referring to bitwise
operators are almost consistently named using prefix

bitwise_

This is done specifically in Boost.Proto but also Boost.MPI
(boost/mpi/operations.hpp).

bitwise_and, bitwise_or, bitwise_xor

are declared and used at 95 lines in Boost Libraries currently.

Since 20.8.7, bitwise operations are *new* in the standard and naming
consistency would be great for users, do you think there is a chance
that those 3 names can be changed to

bitwise_and, bitwise_or, bitwise_xor ?

If so, is there anything that can be done to help the process. I'd
volunteer to write a paper, if necessary.

This might be a tiny issue, but since operators are at the core of any
language, a consistent naming around them might be of great value on
the long run.

Best regards,
Joachim

-- 
Interval Container Library [Boost.Icl]
http://www.joachim-faulhaber.de