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Subject: Re: [boost] [PREDEF] Review for the Boost.Predef library by Rene Riviera
From: Stewart, Robert (Robert.Stewart_at_[hidden])
Date: 2012-02-28 07:24:30


Rene Rivera wrote:
> On 2/26/2012 9:06 AM, Bjorn Reese wrote:
>
> > But you also define macros for all non-pertinent platforms
> > and set their value to 0.0.0.
>
> Right.
[snip]
> > However, this design decision makes the by far most common
> > use case (#ifdef MACRO) more difficult in order to support a
> > rare use case (if (MACRO)). This is not how developers are
> > used to working with platform macros, and it will be an
> > eternal source of confusion.
>
> I guess that depends on the developers. The reasons the macros
> are always defined, to zero when not detected, is to reduce
> the amount of checks when writing conditionals. At least in
> Boost, the common use case goes something like this:
>
> #if defined(_some_compiler_) && (_some_compiler_ < 123)
> //...
> #endif
[snip]
> This is because many times we are interested in a particular
> version number not just if it's one platform vs. another.

However, if _some_compiler_ is always set, to 0.0.0 if to nothing else, then the first test is useless. Besides, I frequently write conditional code of the following form:

#if defined _some_compiler_
//...
#endif

That is, the version is not relevant to me, either because I can assume a limited version range, or because I've rejected irrelevant versions elsewhere.

If _some_compiler_ is always defined, even if to 0.0.0, then such tests are not possible.

Did I miss something?

_____
Rob Stewart robert.stewart_at_[hidden]
Software Engineer using std::disclaimer;
Dev Tools & Components
Susquehanna International Group, LLP http://www.sig.com

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