Eh. Most changes seem to be syntactic sugar (e.g., NULL->nullptr). What are the changes that bring actual value to the users/developers and why can't they be implemented without breaking compatibility?
You can have a great library written in C. Or Python. Or Haskel. I don't see the fact that openbabel isn't C++14 in any way a negative. The question is there something in C++14 (or boost) that brings in enough value to justify the decreased compatibility? For example, I think OBConversion should be rewritten to use boost filtering streams. This has the advantage of eliminating significant memory leaks for some use cases and possibly improving performance. The disadvantage is you introduce a dependency. But if you don't use boost, you basically have to reimplement its functionality. Dropping language bindings is a horrible idea. They are part of what makes openbabel so useful to a wide range of people. At one point or another I have used the python, perl, or php bindings. -Dave Message: 6 Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2015 19:20:24 +0900 From: Ryushiro Sugehara <n.sakis...@gmail.com> Subject: [OpenBabel-Devel] Proposal for a modern C++ codebase To: openbabel-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Message-ID: <CADL_a3H2pgGbRy=mmucce__ahby9zm_ftrhhkxayrjxquux...@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Hi all, I've created an experimental fork to show a new codebase of openbabel: https://github.com/openbabel/openbabel/issues/154 My codes are just a demo. It aims to show what will happen if you make a massive change on the interface. For further details please see the attached link above. Tell me what you think: - Removing legacy codes and writing new implementation creates many backward-incompatible changes. Which do you think is more appropriate: "OpenBabel v3" or an another brand new project? - What do you think about introducing C++14 and the Boost library? - What do you think about dropping support on unpopular language bindings? I'm pretty sure that majority of users are using C++ or Python binding. Since the release has stopped for a long time, I think it's time to change. Nana Sakisaka ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ One dashboard for servers and applications across Physical-Virtual-Cloud Widest out-of-the-box monitoring support with 50+ applications Performance metrics, stats and reports that give you Actionable Insights Deep dive visibility with transaction tracing using APM Insight. http://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/290420510;117567292;y _______________________________________________ OpenBabel-Devel mailing list OpenBabel-Devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/openbabel-devel