Re: Pretty printer module

From: Vinnie Falco (vinnie.falco_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-10-08 20:12:51

On Tue, Oct 8, 2024 at 12:59 PM René Ferdinand Rivera Morell via Boost <
boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> Given how this tool generates code that is directly part of Boost
> libraries I think a review would help in getting approval that it does
> things in a way that authors will accept.
>

Neither approval nor acceptance from "authors" is necessary. Authors
express their dislike of pretty_printers by not using the tool. Library
authors have traditionally been free to style their code however they like.
Robert for example is free to use C++98isms in his Serialization library,
and I will defend the right to do so to the death (his not mine). As long
as there is even one author who wishes to use pretty_printers in their
already-accepted library, then the tool should be added to the Boost
Project without any need for a formal review.

As far as I can tell, most if not all of the tools in Boost were added
without a formal review. However, there is some approval required since
these tools affect shared resources. When I added the docca toolchain to
the project, it required saxon-he (written in Java) which Peter thankfully
helped me get going on the containers which build the releases.

In my opinion, the current system for dealing with tools has been working
well and I have not yet heard a rationale for why it should change.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I am proud to announce that with Dmitry's
work on creating a Python implementation of docca (in the same repository),
we will soon be able to remove saxon-he from the containers. This is a nice
small win, as the removal of outdated tools from Boost is a rare event.

And shortly after Mr. Docs reaches version 1.0, we can remove the docca
tool entirely from the project after the libraries which use it are
upgraded. I'm sure there will be little to no opposition for this flavor of
removal of obsolete things, in comparison to the removal of obsolete
libraries (which in fairness cannot be safely removed anyway).

Thanks