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Re: C++ PATCH: PR 20599 (1/3)


On Sep 25, 2006, at 9:57 AM, Douglas Gregor wrote:

Since the policy we're agreeing on excludes variadic templates from consideration, I'd like to see this patch discussed on its own merits. Variadic templates are a huge win for libstdc++. They take the ugliest parts of libstdc++, the TR1 function objects and tuple implementations, and improve them greatly, both for libstdc++ maintainers and for users. We can eliminate more than 50k of repetitive code from libstdc++, replacing a barely-maintainable mess of preprocessor metaprogramming with a simple, concise implementation that compiles in less than 1/10th of the time. Moreover, the variadic-template--enabled libstdc++ provides a better user experience. The current implementation limits the number of parameters to function/bind/mem_fn/etc. to 10; try to use 11 parameters and you get a big, ugly error message. We can't even bump up the maximum number of parameters supported by the library (we've tried), because compile times become prohibitive.

GCC already contains other extensions meant to improve libstdc++, such as extern templates and strong using directives. The former helps improve compile times (among other benefits) and has now become part of the C++0x working draft. The latter helps improve the user experience for libstdc++'s debug mode. Varadic templates do both, and drastically simplify one of the worst parts of libstdc++.

I was doing my best to sit on my hands on this one, hoping to see others chime in on this. One hand got free, and then the other one got free, and I just couldn't contain them any longer. ;-)


Imho there are two poster childs for exceptions to Mark's good guidelines:

1.  rvalue reference.
2.  variadic templates.

And I think the first one is relatively firm for C++0X, and we will not need to make an exception for it within the next month or seven. The second I think has a better than 50/50 shot at C++0X, and even if it fails, has such a strong positive impact on libstdc++ that (like extern template) I think deserves special attention. Variadic templates is an area that is just begging for gcc to lead instead of follow.

-Howard


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