[C++-sig] Re: C arrays mk 2

[David Abrahams]

Niall Douglas wrote:

> On 15 Oct 2003 at 15:23, David Abrahams wrote:
> 
> 
>> > I
>>
>>>don't know - all of that C-style array stuff looks like doing things
>>>the hard way to me.
>>
>>At least he's having fun ;-)
> 
> 
> And learning stuff too. I think my next stage will be typelist 
> support, then functors, then finally the IPC messaging classes. I 
> won't be using boost because (a) it's overkill and (b) I could do 
> with learning this stuff myself and like typing in BASIC programs 
> from magazine listings during the 80's, DIY is the right way.

Reuse is "the right way".  That's why we do this Boost stuff! ;->
It's very disappointing for us library writers to hear anyone's going to 
go and repeat our work.  Most especially writing typelists yourself 
instead of using MPL you will be having way less fun and doing way more 
hair-pulling; your code will be uglier, harder to maintain and debug, 
and may take longer to compile.  Compile-time C++'s "assembly language" 
(raw templates) is much less well-thought-out than a high-level language 
like MPL.

What do you mean by "it's overkill", anyway?

> Anyway, apart from a few small bits to tidy up in pyste which I'll 
> take up with Bruno, you won't be seeing too much more of me in here 
> from today onwards (I hope anyway). I'll still be around, just off 
> pestering other groups and hopefully answering queries in my own 
> group.
> 
> I can't thank both of you enough for your assistence. I know you guys 
> get dozens of newbies wandering in here every month and it can get 
> annoying, but you've really come through for me here, and I 
> appreciate it.

I'm glad we were able to help, and especially glad that Raoul stepped up 
to answer your questions since I've been so busy.

> Just FYI, the project you've advanced is at 
> http://www.nedprod.com/TnFOX/. I am confident that when it's finished 
> it will be *the* non-commercial GUI abstraction toolkit, perhaps even 
> giving WxWindows a run for its money :)

Wow, that's an awesome task.

I hate having to give this message to various open-source projects over 
and over and over again, but I can't help myself: you have a huge 
undertaking before you.  Reusing the Boost components instead of 
reinventing them yourself will save you gobs of time, bugs, and hassles. 
  You won't have to develop, debug, and maintain the components 
yourself, and, and will be able to get on with the real job of building 
software.

Just think what it'll be like when you hear someone's building the next 
great email/newsreader or web browser or whatever, and they tell you 
they're not using TnFOX because it's overkill or they want to learn how 
to do it themselves, or whatever.  You will have been through the 
trenches with the problems they'll have to solve...  The difference in 
your perspective from theirs is the same as the difference between yours 
and mine right now.

Anyway, best of luck with TnFOX!

-Dave