I have functions that take in std::vector
iterators, as in
typedef std::vector<Point> Points;
Points ConvexHull(Points::const_iterator first, Points::const_iterator last);
I usually pass the std
iterators to them, but occasionally I need to work with boost
iterators, such as boost::join
's range iterator. How should I change the parametrizations of my functions, ideally without templates, so that they accept both iterators? Moreover, how do I indicate in each type which iterator concepts I need?
I tried looking at the boost::range
documentation but it's overwhelmingly confusing for me and I don't know where to start.
For example, I couldn't find the difference between boost::range_details::any_forward_iterator_interface
and boost::range_details::any_forward_iterator_wrapper
, and whether I should use either of those to specify that I need a forward iterator.
Edit:
If I use boost::any_range
, how can I pass non-const lvalue references?
For example:
template<typename T>
using Range = boost::any_range<T, boost::random_access_traversal_tag,
T, std::ptrdiff_t>;
f(Range<Point> &points); // defined elsewhere
// -------------
vector<Point> vec;
f(vec); // error; cannot bind non-const lvalue reference to unrelated type
You should strongly consider using a template. Doing so let's the compiler keep useful information about what operations are actually occurring, which greatly helps it generate optimised output. The std::
convention is to name the type parameter for the concept required. E.g.
template< class BidirIt, class UnaryPredicate > // anything bidirectional (which includes random access)
BidirIt std::partition( BidirIt first, BidirIt last, UnaryPredicate p );
If you really don't want a template, you still shouldn't name anything in a detail
namespace. Something like
#include <boost/range/any_range.hpp>
using PointRange = boost::any_range<Point, boost::random_access_traversal_tag>; // or another traversal tag.
using PointIterator = PointRange::iterator;
You will likely need to pass PointRange &
less frequently than, say, int *&
. Almost always passing by value is the correct behaviour. It is cheap to copy, as it holds a begin
and end
iterator from the Range that it was constructed from, nothing more.