Re: [Boost-users] [fusion] sequence conversion

From: Zeljko Vrba (zvrba_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-07-20 11:14:36

On Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 10:32:59PM +0800, Joel de Guzman wrote:
> 
> In that case, it's pointless to answer, or even try to comprehend your
> question before this paragraph. So, I won't bother. For the record,
> I would personally spend my time on something more productive.
> 
That's understandable -- you have no personal interest in convincing me that
fusion is something worth looking into.  That's why I asked about real-world,
non-abstract examples without further justifications or explanations.  And a
CSV parser *is* a nice example.  (Just that I personally would not choose C++
as the tool for the job.  From my current POV, "R" seems like knowledge that is
more useful for my long-term professional development than fusion and MPL --
that's what I tried to say.  Whether this "seeming" is true or not, is what I'm
trying to find out with this discussion.)

> 
> Well, if MPL and the TMP book does not connect with you, no amount
> of Fusion documentation will ever convince you of its merits. On one
> hand, I want to answer your questions and queries, improve the docs,
> write examples, etc. On the other hand, I'm starting to feel that
> no amount of effort will ever make you change your mind, since,
> it seems, it's already been made. If that's the case, and correct
> me if I'm wrong, I'd rather spend my time on something more productive.
> 
This is not about *me* -- I guess that there are many others in similar
situation like I am.  I am an independent learner, and I do not like to ask too
many questions.  + when one knows little, one can only ask very few sensible
questions.  In my case, the only sensible question I can ask is "What is it
good for?"  I *am* convinced that it is good for *something*, but for *what* ? 

Yes, I'm tough to convince, and I do not expect *you* nor anybody else to
convince me into anything.  I'm actually already convinced that fusion and MPL
are useful and have merits, otherwise I wouldn't be trying to tackle them, and
I wouldn't be spending half of the day (sunday!) writing emails -- I'd be doing
something "more productive" :-) [except that I consider self-education as being
productive, so I'm writing emails]

The problem with MPL/fusion is that there are not enough _simple_ real-world
examples available to learn from.  The existing use-cases are buried deep
inside advanced library code that is not suited for learning. 

The small amounts of code that get posted to the list are very cryptic to the
uninitiated, to say the least, and again of little help without the context
(like the CSV parser). 

So how was I (or anybody) supposed to start learning, when all I have is
reference documentation with artificial examples, huge amounts of library code,
and short snippets without a context mailed to the list together with abstract
questions?  And *no* examples showing how to *model* real-world problems.

Anyway, I apologize once again, and thanks for your time.