Re: [boost] [range] [general] making member functions SFINAE-friendly

Subject: Re: [boost] [range] [general] making member functions SFINAE-friendly
From: Nathan Ridge (zeratul976_at_[hidden])
Date: 2013-02-18 05:19:52

> Could you share a use case that requires to depend on size()
> specifically rather than the iterator category?

Given an arbitrary range r, determine its size by the fasest
means possible.

If we use std::distance, we can do it in O(1) for std::vector,
O(n) for std::map, and O(n) for std::forward_list.

If we can detect whether "r.size()" is a valid expression,
and use that if available, and std::distance otherwise, then
we have O(1) for std::vector, O(1) for std::map, and O(n) for 
std::forward_list. Notice how that's an improvement for 
std::map.

However, if detecting whether "r.size()" is a valid expression
cannot be done reliably (for example, if we determine that for
iterator_range<I> where I is not random-access it is a valid
expression, but then that static-asserts on us), then we
can't use this approach.

Regards,
Nate