From 448644546768341573 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f78e5,fbd36da46c3cc7a0 X-Google-Attributes: gidf78e5,public From: Steve Clamage Subject: Re: Discussion: type_info Date: 1999/12/01 Message-ID: <38445F7C.C643D413@sun.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 555161150 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Approved: Fergus Henderson References: <81ecdl$pq$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <81tdvj$i7i$1@trex.antw.online.be> X-Original-Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 15:36:28 -0800 X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Complaints-To: news@news.unimelb.edu.au X-Trace: ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au 944025842 1118 128.250.37.153 (1 Dec 1999 05:24:02 GMT) Organization: Sun Microsystems X-Auth: PGPMoose V1.1 PGP comp.std.c++ iQBFAgUAOESw/OEDnX0m9pzZAQFxWgF/bEmDJHB9gP2w72fRx7HnBobawekkeVBJ ntd+uVUReYIUH7b7p3gxVQsoHpk/7KFE =wZyS Mime-Version: 1.0 NNTP-Posting-Date: 1 Dec 1999 05:24:02 GMT Newsgroups: comp.std.c++ TiTi wrote: > > > Recall also that the STL doesn't provide hashing anywhere, as far as I can > see. Type_info is being consistent with that. > >When hashing gets added, as I hope it will be in 5 or 10 years time, it will presumably come with a > > bunch of conventions about the name of the hash function, the type of the > > hashed value, etc. Type_info is right to avoid pre-empting those > > decisions. > > Are you out of your mind? 5 to 10 years, for something that should have been > in in the first place? Then I don't think that you use it very often. I used > it in Java, SmallTalk & C++, over the last 5 years, and I could not have > done things so fast without 'em. 5 to 10 years? I can't believe it!! First of all, there is no relationship between type_info and the STL containers and algorithms. The type_info class is not a container in the STL sense. Second, type_info was deliberately not designed to support general type queries of the kind available in, for example, Smalltalk. Third, the original STL did not contain any hash tables. There was a proposal to add hash tables, but it was submitted far too late to get it into the standard. Since the standard is only 18 months old, it will be some time before a new version will worked on. It took 10 years for a new version of the C standard, for example. But nothing prevents hash table classes and algorithms from being developed between now and whenver the C++ standard is next revised. Ideally, new features will have been in use and bugs worked out so that the next standard can simply codify them. -- Steve Clamage, stephen.clamage@sun.com --- [ comp.std.c++ is moderated. To submit articles, try just posting with ] [ your news-reader. If that fails, use mailto:std-c++@ncar.ucar.edu ] [ --- Please see the FAQ before posting. --- ] [ FAQ: http://reality.sgi.com/austern_mti/std-c++/faq.html ]