If C++ programmers want to print something to the commandline the basicaly have the choice between the old C-functions from cstdio or the slightely newer C++-streams. Both interfaces have big problems:
The printf-family is extremly dangerous and stupid:
- Using a slightely wrong format-string results in undefined-behaviour.
- The functions are unable to infer the types of their arguments, they have to be passed via the format-string.
- Writing portable code with typedefed integer-types get's ridicolous. The correct solution is to
include inttypes.h which provides macros for the right types. this results in calls like
this:
printf("foo%" PRI64 "bar, uint64_t{0});
While streams solve these problems they create several themselves:
- Formatting output with streams is extremely verbose. To print an uint64_t with 16 characters
(leading zeros) in hex, one has to write this:
stream << std::setw(16) << std::setfill('0') << std::hex << uint64_t{2}; - Some of these manipulaters keep persistent until they get explicitaly reset. Others will be reset after the next call. This is almost as inconsistent as php.
- Since formating can change the way how stuff will be printed forever, streams may either get messed
up or have to be cleaned manually. This means that the solution in the first point is actually
incomplete. The real ssolution would be this:
stream << std::setw(16) << std::setfill('0') << std::hex << uint64_t{2} << std::setw(0) << std::dec;
Since this situation is clearly less then great, libyoga was invented to get rid of all of these disadvantages and create few new ones.
The current status of the project is that it solves all the problems of printf, but has lost it's formatting-support since it was basically rewritten from scratch. The current implementation also favours convenience over performance and is still build on top of the stdlib's stream-library. The longtime-goal is to overcome these limitations.
Naming is sometimes considered one of the hardest things in software-engeneering. Therefore the author of this library ran pwgen to create a suitable name that doesn't clash. The output was 'YOG'. Since yoga is only one letter longer, very easy to pronounce, doesn't clash with existing libraries and is often associated with relaxation (which is what this library is intended to bring to programmers) it was choosen as name.
TODO
The library is licensed under GPLv3 or any later version. If this is incompatible to your prefered FLOSS-license contact the author to see what can be done for you.
If you want to use libyoga in a proprietary product, contact the author to purchase a nonfree license.