Fwd (kielmann at cs.vu.nl): Fwd (craig at rush.aero.org): Re: [saga-rg] deep copy / shallow copy

[Thilo Kielmann]

> From: Craig Lee <craig at rush.aero.org>
> Subject: Re: [saga-rg] deep copy / shallow copy
> 
> But, one could argue that when programming in a given language,
> the copy/assignment operator will be used for both SAGA and non-SAGA 
> objects.
> That is to say, the programmer should be/will be aware of the
> copy/assignment semantics throughout the program.

Nicely put, Craig! That's what I tried to say...

> I agree that differing copy/assignment semantics could cause problems
> for a programmer, but I don't see how a SAGA binding could dictate 
> copy/assignment
> semantics that are different from a language's "native" semantics.
> Besides being difficult or impossible to implement, this means that
> different objects within a single program could have different 
> copy/assignment
> behavior, depending on whether they were SAGA or non-SAGA objects.
> This, too, could cause problems.
> 
> I think this should be left as a language binding issue.  Nonetheless,
> the SAGA API doc could have a prominent "Advice to Practitioners"
> section that identifies and discusses these binding pitfalls.

Sounds right to me.


Thilo
-- 
Thilo Kielmann                                 http://www.cs.vu.nl/~kielmann/