Boost logo

Boost :

Subject: [boost] Moving files around
From: John Maddock (jz.maddock_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-01-10 05:28:20


Can I just fire a shot across the bows before we all get too carried
away moving files around here there and everywhere?

*The move has to make logical sense* - reducing dependencies is a worthy
goal, but not if it makes stuff harder to maintain and/or harder for the
user to find what they're looking for.

Let me give you a trivial example:

boost/utility/declval.hpp was moved into the type_traits repository to
reduce dependencies on utility. OK fair enough. But I see no tests or
docs, and the docs at the very least are still in "utility". So now we
have a situation where maintenance of that functionality is split over
two repositories each with different maintenance teams. That's not good.

Perhaps more to the point, if I'm a user and I'm looking for
boost/something/whatever.hpp, it had better darn well be in package
"something" or I'm going to be pretty annoyed. This applies equally to
folks wanting to use "whatever.hpp" as to folks wanting to submit pull
requests.

In fact if the above doesn't hold I suspect that

a) Folks will give up and reinvent smaller utilities for themselves.
b) Use an older version of Boost ("I new where everything was there").
c) Not submit bug reports or pull requests cause they can't figure out
where they should go.

I guess what I'm saying is that while re-factoring is a good idea, it
needs a vision to improve "discover-ability" and make Boost's structure
more logical, not merely easier for a package manager.

Now please do carry on as you were ;)

John.


Boost list run by bdawes at acm.org, gregod at cs.rpi.edu, cpdaniel at pacbell.net, john at johnmaddock.co.uk