Re: [boost] [endian] Some suggestions

Subject: Re: [boost] [endian] Some suggestions
From: Bjorn Reese (breese_at_[hidden])
Date: 2016-04-12 10:42:28

On 04/12/2016 02:28 PM, Peter Dimov wrote:

> That's true but I still don't see why the Endian library has anything to
> do with it. Its job is to put back the bits in your float the way they
> were written; if the compiler then replaces the bits with something
> else, there's nothing the library can do. The library should give you a
> float that is the same as the hex float literal with the same bits that
> were written; it could do nothing more.

Beman said that he wanted to submit a proposal for C++ standardization
to unveil the various intricacies of floating point numbers. That is
why I mentioned NaN payloads in the first place. I do not see them as
showstoppers for the inclusion of floats in Boost.Endian.

That said, binary serialization protocols are going to be some of the
major "customers" of Boost.Endian, so I find the line between endian
and serialization a bit blurred. While the interoperability problems
surrounding NaN payloads are caused by serialization, Boost.Endian
with float support is going to make it easier to make such mistakes.