Re: Adding optional<T&> find like method to associative containers in boost.

From: Vinnie Falco (vinnie.falco_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-12-19 18:49:05

On Thu, Dec 19, 2024 at 10:33 AM Christian Mazakas via Boost <
boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> ...we don't actually know if people are even going to use this
> kind of construct in the first place and it's just way easier to add
> try_find to e.g. `boost::unordered_flat_map` and call it a day.
>
> If users buy into the construct and they want the free function version,
> they'll let us know.
>

I think this is exactly backwards. Adding a member function to decide if
"users buy into the construct" means that if we later observe that users
aren't buying in, then we are either stuck with a useless member function
or worse we have to break existing code. If we want field experience, it is
better to implement it as a separate free function to figure out buy-in and
then later consider adding it as a member function.

Thanks