On 27 May 2013 23:05, Anders Logg <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 11:00:16PM +0100, Garth N. Wells wrote: >> On 27 May 2013 22:47, Anders Logg <[email protected]> wrote: >> > I've just pushed a new typedef 'mesh_index' for unsigned int, similar >> > to the existing 'la_index'. I suggest we use it in place of unsigned >> > int wherever we now use unsigned int in place of std::size_t to save >> > space for local entity indices. >> > >> >> Could you motivate the addition? la_index has a clear motivation - >> compatibility with linear algebra backends. > > So that whenever we use 'unsigned int', it is for a clear purpose - > either to save space or for compatibility with the index type used by > the mesh library. It is otherwise likely that it is just using > unsigned int out of old habit (as I'm prone to). It also has the > advantage that we can easily change the definition of the type in the > future if we should need it. >
For me a typedef has the opposite effect. It obscures the type. I find it easy to choose between std::size_t and unsigned int because the type is obvious. I would prefer to not introduce an unnecessary type. Garth > -- > Anders _______________________________________________ fenics mailing list [email protected] http://fenicsproject.org/mailman/listinfo/fenics
