I agree with you 100%. You embody the methodology behind C++. The only problem I can see with adding something like that to C++ is that many times the compiler can't determine at compile time if a value is violating the contract. If the feature were added to C++, the programmer would have to be able to implicitly cast a value to the contract value datatype without having the compiler generate any actual checks. That is then a "you don't pay for what you don't use" way of doing things... the C++ way.
On Nov 22, 2007 6:40 PM, Darren Cook <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Arguments about the quality of compiler optimizations vs. hand coding > > are pointless, because programmers optimize programs in ways that > compilers > > are (correctly) forbidden to do; by changing the algorithm. > > > > For example, if I happen to know "x" will always be an integer > > from 0 to 359, I can replace sin(x) with a table lookup. No compiler > > can ever do that, even if I include assert(x>=0 && x<360) in the code > > somewhere (which would be a good idea even if I "know" it). > > Unless the assert is part of the language, such as in Eiffel and other > languages with contracts. (Though I'm not aware of any language that > uses contracts in the optimization stage.) > > I tried (not hard enough, and failed) to push for design-by-contract > extensions into C++ TR2, and even the author of the proposal seemed > surprised when I said better optimization was a key feature: it seems > everybody sees design by contract as all about safety. But it is about > describing the problem more accurately to the computer so that it can > not just find more bugs at compile-time but also so it can generate > better code at compile-time. > > Darren > > > -- > Darren Cook > http://dcook.org/mlsn/ (English-Japanese-German-Chinese free dictionary) > http://dcook.org/work/ (About me and my work) > http://dcook.org/work/charts/ (My flash charting demos) > _______________________________________________ > computer-go mailing list > computer-go@computer-go.org > http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/ >
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