Re: [boost] [outcome] Exception safety guarantees

Subject: Re: [boost] [outcome] Exception safety guarantees
From: Niall Douglas (s_sourceforge_at_[hidden])
Date: 2017-05-27 22:13:27

> This is in connection with Vicente's question: what exception safety should
> we expect of copy assignment of `expected`?

Vicente's paper promises a never empty guarantee. So if during a
transition of state during assignment the new state's assignment
operator throws, the previous state in the Expected is preserved.

Outcome master branch doesn't implement that. Outcome develop branch does.

> First, let's consider the use case for `expected`, where we want to disable
> exception handling altogether. This means `T` or `E` cannot throw on any
> operation.

Vicente's paper allows T to throw during move or copy. E must be nothrow
move. This makes possible the never empty guarantee.

> So my view, as of today, is not to strive for a strong or even never-empty
> guarantee. Provide a conditional guarantee, if types T and E don't throw,
> you get no-fail guarantee. If they do, you only have a basic guarantee: you
> can destroy, assign to, or maybe call valueless_by_exception(). Nothing
> more. I think `std::variant` made the optimal choice.

std::variant could provide a never empty guarantee without increasing
storage required if it imposed restrictions on its types e.g. all but
one of the possible types must have nothrow move construction.

If it were allowed to double the storage required, it could use Anthony
Williams' double buffer technique to ensure never empty guarantee. This
eliminates the need for valueless_by_exception() entirely.

None of this affects Expected nor Outcome. Outcome hard codes EC and E,
and both those types are guaranteed nothrow move constructible, so we
can guarantee we never lose a previous state if assignment of a new
state throws.

Niall

-- 
ned Productions Limited Consulting
http://www.nedproductions.biz/ http://ie.linkedin.com/in/nialldouglas/