On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 2:01 PM, Jarrett Billingsley <jarrett.billings...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 11:15 PM, Andrei Alexandrescu > <seewebsiteforem...@erdani.org> wrote: >> I've worked valiantly on defining the range infrastructure and making >> std.algorithm work with it. I have to say that I'm even more pleased with >> the result than I'd ever expected when I started. Ranges and concepts really >> make for beautiful code, and I am sure pretty darn efficient too. >> >> There's a lot to sink one's teeth in, but unfortunately the code hinges on a >> compiler fix that Walter was kind enough to send me privately. I did >> document the work, but the documentation doesn't really make justice to the >> extraordinary possibilities that lay ahead of us. Anyhow, here's a sneak >> preview into the up-and-coming ranges and their algorithms. >> >> http://ssli.ee.washington.edu/~aalexand/d/web/phobos/std_range.html >> http://ssli.ee.washington.edu/~aalexand/d/web/phobos/std_algorithm.html >> >> Ranges are easy to define and compose efficiently. It was, however, a pig to >> get a zip(r1, r2, ...) working that can mutate back the ranges it iterates >> on. With that, it's very easy to e.g. sort multiple arrays in parallel. >> Similarly, chain(r1, r2, ...) is able to offer e.g. random iteration if all >> components offer it, which means that you can do crazy things like sorting >> data that sits partially in one array and partially in another. >> >> Singly-linked list ranges are in, and to my soothing I found an answer to >> the container/range dichotomy in the form of a topology policy. A range may >> or may not be able to modify the topology of the data it's iterating over; >> if it can, it's a free-standing range, much like built-in arrays are. If it >> can't, it's a limited range tied to a container (of which I defined none so >> far, but give me time) and it's only the container that can mess with the >> topology in controlled ways. More on that later. >> >> Feedback welcome. > > This is some awesome stuff. std.range and std.algorithm are really > coming together into a compelling whole. I don't know what else to > say - _you_ seem to know what you're doing!
Indeed. It makes me wish the porting fairy would visit my D1 code repositories tonight while I sleep. > Also - "toe" is still a stupid name. ;) "first" and "last" would > have been my first choices, they seem so obvious. It's especially strange given the description: "toe -- returns the rightmost element" I don't usually think of my toes as being my rightmost element... What is the argument against "first" and "last", anyway? Just that they're boring? --bb
