Re: [boost] [Boost-users] [afio] Formal review of Boost.AFIO

Subject: Re: [boost] [Boost-users] [afio] Formal review of Boost.AFIO
From: Niall Douglas (s_sourceforge_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-08-25 13:28:09

On 25 Aug 2015 at 8:17, Robert Ramey wrote:

> > Please answer the following questions:
> >
> > 1. Should Boost.AFIO be accepted into Boost? Please state all
> >     conditions for acceptance explicity.
> >
> > Provisionally, yes.
> >
> > Requirements:
> <snip>
> 
> This list of requirements constitutes much more than a "a few changes". 
>   It's impossible to know what what the library would like like after 
> all these changes and and their repercussions were addressed.  I don't 
> think we can realistically expect the review manager to verify that and 
> library with all these changes is sufficiently close the current one to 
> take responsibility for signing off on the final version.

I read the provisional yes as meaning yes to how the library is 
roadmapped to look like in the future, and he recommends an 
additional mini-review at that point which could introduce yet 
another mini-review after again. In other words, he's saying 
fundamentally it's good, but needs a lot more work yet. Paul please 
do correct me if I am wrong in this interpretation.

There is precedent for this: Boost.Fiber was provisionally approved 
here as a C++ 98 library with condition of a mini-review before 
entry. Boost.Fiber is now a C++ 14 library and sufficiently different 
from the library originally reviewed it may require a second 
mini-review if during its first mini-review it is felt still lacking.

I think this pattern of repeated mini-reviews caused by changes to 
the common implementations of the C++ standard rather than the 
libraries themselves is going to be very common next few years. All 
these changes to AFIO are almost entirely driven by changes since 
2012 to the various WG21 technical standards. If they hadn't changed 
and C++ compilers (specifically MSVC) hadn't changed, AFIO wouldn't 
have changed. It's very similar for Fiber, which had to be refactored 
in the face of substantial changes in C++ 14.

Niall

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