Boost C++ Libraries

...one of the most highly regarded and expertly designed C++ library projects in the world. Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu, C++ Coding Standards

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Naming conventions

All of the macros in the library begin with the prefix BOOST_VMD_, where VMD stands for 'Variadic Macro Data'.

Following the prefix, certain names in the macros refer to data types in this library or Boost PP. These names and their data types are:

  1. TUPLE = Boost PP tuple data type.
  2. ARRAY = Boost PP array data type.
  3. LIST = Boost PP list data type.
  4. SEQ = Boost PP seq data type.
  5. IDENTIFIER = A VMD identifier
  6. NUMBER = A VMD number
  7. TYPE = A VMD type

I have used most of these names in order to mimic the naming of Boost PP as closely as possible. Subsequent use of the words 'array', 'list', 'seq', and 'tuple' refer to these Boost PP data types unless otherwise noted. See the help for Boost PP for any explanation of these data types.

The term 'sequence' refers to a sequence of VMD data types and is not the same as a Boost PP sequence which is always referred to in this documentation as a 'seq'.

The term 'return' refers to the expansion of a macro. I use the terminology of a macro "returning some data" rather than the terminology of a macro "expanding to some data", even if the latter is more accurate, because it more closely corresponds to the way I believe C++ programmers think about macro programming.

The term 'emptiness' refers to no preprocessor data being passed to or returned from a macro. I have avoided the word 'nothing' because it has too vague a meaning.

The term 'data type' refers to the various preprocessor input types which VMD can parse and which are listed above, also including emptiness.

The term 'v-type' refers to a VMD type, the term 'number' returns to a VMD number and the term 'identifier' refers to a VMD identifier. All these will be explained in their proper place.

The term "UB" stands for "undefined behavior" as it is specified in the C++ standard.


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