Ok David, I get your point. On 10/2/06, David Abrahams <dave@boost-consulting.com> wrote:
"Leandro Melo" <ltcmelo@gmail.com> writes:
On 10/2/06, David Abrahams <dave@boost-consulting.com> wrote:
"Leandro Melo" <ltcmelo@gmail.com> writes:
Hi David. I understand that Boost's architecture (taking into account the template stuff, the fact all algorithms are implemented as functions and the layering of the algorithms implementations) favors a nice performance of the library. However, I can't get how algorithms can be implemented in a manner to be fast with a wide variety of graph structures.
That's the magic of generic programming.
Hi David.
I think there's a misunderstanding here. I believe that I know many of the benefits of Generic Programming. But my poiny is that I don't agree that algorithms implemented generically can be considered to be faster just because of that.
I never claimed that. I said "fast with a wide variety of graph structures."
What I was trying to say is that. When you build a DFS algorithm for example (either generically or a very specialized version), the implementation has its lower bounds. And when I say that, I suppose I'm using a nice graph structure. Suppose I have a graph structure and I'm not able to provide an implementaiton of the Property Map interface that achieves constant time access. If I run Dijkstra algorithm with this structures, I will not get the best bound for the algorithm.
In other words, in the case of Boost I believe that the fact algorithms are implement in a generic way contributes more to aspects related to 'flexibility'.
The point is flexibility without loss of efficiency. Non-generic solutions would cost efficiency to, say, allow you to choose between two O(1) lookup structures such as a hashtable and an array.
Aspects related to 'performance' are intrinsically related to 'how' the algorithms are implemented (either in a generic or specialized version).
I don't understand the significance of the quotation marks above.
-- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting www.boost-consulting.com
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-- Leandro Terra C. Melo