[Fwd: [CsMain] Reasons NOT to use STL]

[Michael J. K. <mc...@er...>]

My $0.02:

Feel free to take a peek at the STL code some time, Andrew. It's
about as lean as you can get w/parameterized, inline code, and the
design versatility it provides is unparalleled.

Put more directly, IMHO: Templates (and smooth uses of them
such as STL) gives C++ its only edge over languages with richer
base APIs such as Java (for new work, that is).

My organization uses the STL extensively in our projects and, with
some macro trickery, have fully-featured deployments on:

IRIX (MIPSPro)
HP-UX (aCC & egcs)
Linux (egcs)
NT (VC++6, native MS STL + SGI STL)
Solaris (egcs -- had it with SUNPro for a while)

...The M$ case is instructive. The Microsoft standard implementation
lacks the hash_map (not required by spec). We needed it, and since
the SGI implementation is compatible, could safely live in a different
namespace, and had different file naming convetions, we were able
to just do:

#include <vecotor, list, set, etc.> (microsoft headers)
#include <hash_map> (sgi header + dependancies)

On UNIX and their kin, *debug* executables and .so's size can get
*gigantic* (esp. with MIPSPro, even with -gslim, etc.). Once these
are stripped, they're not so bad, but noticably larger than pre-template
implementations of the same code. On Windows the executables are
very, very small in any case.

With care, the STL can offer a great deal of functionality and still
deliver managable executables. Plus, you can often build with it with
exception use turned off via macros.

Be sure to take a look at STLPort, in particular:

http://www.stlport.org

...these folks have the latest SGI STL working most everywhere.

Peter Donald wrote:

> >From: "Andrew Zabolotny" <bi...@el...>
> >Subject: [CsMain] Reasons NOT to use STL
> >
> >The real reasons why I wouldn't like using STL in CS (and anywhere else)
> are the
> >following:
> >
>

<SNIP>

>
>
> STL offers a lot of things and parts where it excells cs has replacements
> anyway (like csVector). The replacements may not be as fast or efficient
> but they are cross-platform and changing the paradigm of how cs works would
> be a massive task.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Pete
>
> *------------------------------------------------------*
> | "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want |
> | to test a man's character, give him power."          |
> |       -Abraham Lincoln                               |
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>
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--
                                                -Regards,
                                                MjK

- - - - -

"Free software bad. Fire hurt Mongo."

Michael J. Kitchin (RMTS) / mki...@al...
Altair Aerospace Corporation / www.altaira.com