Re: [gil] Phasing out support C++11 and switching to C++17

From: Mateusz Loskot (mateusz_at_[hidden])
Date: 2020-10-26 19:47:30

On Mon, 26 Oct 2020 at 20:40, Emil Dotchevski via Boost
<boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 8:38 AM Mateusz Loskot via Boost <boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> > On Mon, 26 Oct 2020 at 15:53, Robert Ramey via Boost
> > <boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> > > On 10/26/20 2:37 AM, Mateusz Loskot via Boost wrote:
> > > >
> > > > We're discussing [1] to start switching GIL to C++17
> > > > in the near future and, following Peter Dimov's policy
> > > > on phasing out C++XY support [2], we'd like to:
> > > >
> > > > 1. Declare C++11 support deprecated in 1.75 (December 2020)
> > > > 2. Drop C++11 support in 1.77 (?)  (August 2021)
> > > >
> > > > Could anyone help us validate and confirm that
> > > > it's a good plan or are we overlooking any policies
> > > > from Boost's release perspective?
> > > >
> > > > [1] https://lists.boost.org/boost-gil/2020/10/0465.php
> > > > [2] https://pdimov.github.io/articles/phasing_out_cxx03.html
> > >
> > > Just out of curiosity, what new features and/or benefits (if any) will
> > > moving to conformance with C++17 add?
> >
> > e.g. make the library sexier for contributors who actually
> > expressed interest in developing features for the library
> > and who wish to use `-std=c++17` at least
> > when they develop pull requests for the library.
>
> Really, the stated reason for dropping support for C++11 is that it will
> make the library "sexier"?

No. I dodged the questions like those about the exact list of C++17 features.

> I understand that this would enable GIL to be compiled as a standalone
> library, and that's a good thing, but it would be better to provide that
> functionality and not break what currently works. Or at least take a stab
> at it and see how bad it is to support both. After all, Boost provides
> excellent support for workarounds and compiler compatibility.

As I explained, one of major changes we will do is getting rid of Boost.Iterator
(we already removed Boost.MPL, Boost.TypeTraits, and several more).

Best regards,
-- 
Mateusz Loskot, http://mateusz.loskot.net