Changes between Version 7 and Version 8 of soc2009

Timestamp:

Mar 19, 2009, 10:21:50 PM (14 years ago)

Author:

Thorsten Ottosen

Comment:

--

soc2009

@@ -282 +282 @@
 
 
+== Boost.Devector ==
+
+The purpose of this project would be to write a super-efficient alternative to std::deque, named boost::devector.
+As the name suggest, this would be something of a mixture between std::deque and std::vector, bringing the best of
+them both together.
+
+One of the prime uses of std::deque is with intrusive containers, whether are home-made or based on
+Boost.Intrusive ([http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_38_0/doc/html/intrusive.html]). The property that is
+so imporant here is reference stability (when the container grows, references are not invalidated).
+
+The exsting std::deque has a number of short-comings that should be solved for this container:
+
+ * slow iteration (see e.g. [http://lafstern.org/matt/segmented.pdf])
+ * inability to specify the size of the chunk and/or change them at runtime
+ * inability to reserve chunks of memory in advance (at both ends)
+ * overencapsulated for certain low-level operations.
+
+Writing such a container is non-trivial, but you will learn to master the following
+important topics
+
+ * generic programming in C++
+ * low-level C++ development
+ * the use of Boost.Iterator ([http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_38_0/libs/iterator/doc/index.html])
+ * the use of Boost.TypeTraits ([http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_38_0/libs/type_traits/doc/html/index.html])
+
+Futhermore, you will learn to write canonical exception-safe code which is something that
+you can make use of no matter what language you will be using in the future. You will also
+learn to write rigorous tests. And you will learn how to write precise and clear documentation at a level
+suitable for an expert. All of these abilities should be very useful for you in your future career.
+
+If there is more time, we can look at additional advanced data-structures.
+
+-Thorsten
+