Re: [boost] [C++0x] Emulate C++0x char16_t, char32_t, std::u16string, and std::u32string

Subject: Re: [boost] [C++0x] Emulate C++0x char16_t, char32_t, std::u16string, and std::u32string
From: Antony Polukhin (antoshkka_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-07-20 16:45:33

2011/7/21 Beman Dawes <bdawes_at_[hidden]>:
> This is the same emulation approach Microsoft ships in VC++ 10.

It is a bad approach, and will produce a lot of future workarounds. We
can still remember wchar_t as a typedef for some compilers and a
BOOST_NO_INTRINSIC_WCHAR_T macro for that defect.

However some emulation for char16_t, char32_t types is required, but
it must not be a typedef!

> It seems to me that all Boost libraries that want to emulate these 0X
> features should use the a unified approach. Otherwise we could get
> into a situation where libraries A and B worked fine in isolation, but
> had symbol or ODR clashes when used together.

Totally agree.

> The header I'm using is attached. I propose to place this in
> <boost/string_0x.hpp> rather than, say,
> <boost/filesystem/detail/string_0x.hpp>, and providing a simple doc
> page.

Agree, but please, don't implement char16_t, char32_t as a typedef!

Best regards,
Antony Polukhin