Hi D
I'm working on data streaming reading module where the encoding
of each input array isn't known until runtime. For example
date-time column values may be encoded as:
* An ISO-8601 UTC time string (aka char[])
* A ASCII floating point value with an indicated unit size and
epoch (aka char[])
* A IEEE double with an indicated endianness, unit size, and
epoch. (aka double[])
* A 64-bit signed in with an indicated endianness, unit size,
and epoch. (aka long[])
My job when encountering a date-time array in the stream is to
just to properly convert the info into a broken down time
structure, regardless of the encoding.
Initially I've been reading chunks of the stream into a `ubyte[]`
and then using `cast` and `to` as needed, but then I stumbled
across std.variant which can hold any type.
I'm wondering if std.variant is useful in cases where type
information is only known at run-time, since many of the flexible
data structures I've run across so far in D require compile-time
information.
Thanks,
