Hi Robert, Robert Ramey wrote:
I don't remember much traffic on this list regarding this library and if I google information on boost C++ units library I don't get a whole lot of hits. This could mean that that the library is so easy to use no one ever needs to ask about it or it could be that almost no one every uses it. In Boost we don't gather statistics on usage by library so I don't which of these it might be. So my question is: Has anyone had good success with this library? How much effort did it take? What did you have to do to make it work. I would be curious about any other user feed back in these questions.
I have had good success with the library -- I work on geographical information systems, and it's been great for verifying dimensional correctness. I initially only used the si system, and that didn't take much work at all. I then created my own system, which was extremely difficult. It took a lot of reading of examples and source code before I was able to create a system that met my needs -- then on two occasions I found use cases that couldn't be supported with my system formulation. Each time I read more code and studied the examples and documentation until I found something that worked. I even think my current system is pretty good -- certainly for its application. But my understanding has been hard-won after lots of confusion. (Admittedly, my particular use is complicated by run-time varying behavior and conversions that depend on two dimensions.) I'm coming into boost units from a different angle than many, however -- I wrote my own system based on Abrahams' & Gurtovoy's TMP book, then replaced it with boost.units. I was (and continue to be) impressed with the careful design, and the syntactic convenience it afforded. For me, the difficulty has been transitioning from being a basic user of the library to moving into advanced usage. Unfortunately, I don't have a good idea on how the documentation could be improved for my usage; I'll give it some thought. In short, my experience has been extremely positive, but there have been some stubbed toes while finding my way through the library. Good luck, Nate