Re: [boost] [Review:Algorithms] Order of args to clamp

Subject: Re: [boost] [Review:Algorithms] Order of args to clamp
From: Andrew Sutton (asutton.list_at_[hidden])
Date: 2011-09-25 09:53:54

> Yes, it may be possible to convert to a common type - but that will involve
> extra work at runtime.  If you need to prove the correctness of something
> and this makes that difficult for you, you're welcome to use a subset of the
> functionality.

Shouldn't the algorithm be provably correct on its own right? I hope
that we're not building libraries where our strongest guarantee of
correctness is, "It looks like it does the right thing".

> Consider the case where the types differ only in some attribute like their
> allocator that doesn't change the behaviour of comparisons.

There is a way to define the algorithm over different types and still
preserve the semantics of the ordering, and to do so without requiring
conversions. I suspect that the case where types differ by an
Allocator will satisfy those requirements.