Re: [boost] Compiler warnings after boost update

Subject: Re: [boost] Compiler warnings after boost update
From: Vladimir Prus (vladimir.prus_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-09-25 02:56:32

On 24-Sep-15 1:07 PM, Auer, Jens wrote:
> I think the current policy on warnings should be
> changed to demand that changed and added public API code compiles warning free on all supported
> compilers with the highest settings available

Jens,

I am afraid this is not practical:

- Compilers often produce spurious warnings, and working around such spurious warnings is not
   necessary the best time investment, at least for library authors.
- Compilers often produce new spurious warnings in new versions.
- Even if a warning is sensible, addressing them might not be best time investment. E.g. clang 7.0
   started to warn about missing 'override' - which is sensible, but changing all existing
   code just because a new compiler release is out is pointless.
- Even if two people would agree on a policy, it's unlikely a wide agreement will be reached
- Even if everybody agree on policy, I doubt anybody would invest time in tracking new warnings
   across all libraries and compilers and pinging library authors to fix them.

The recommendation to include Boost using -isystem, above, seems a sensible one to me.

- Volodya