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| <div class="section"> |
| <div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"> |
| <a name="fusion.preface"></a><a class="link" href="preface.html" title="Preface">Preface</a> |
| </h2></div></div></div> |
| <div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p> |
| <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs.</span>”</span></em></span> |
| </p></blockquote></div> |
| <div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p> |
| <span class="bold"><strong>--Niklaus Wirth</strong></span> |
| </p></blockquote></div> |
| <a name="fusion.preface.description"></a><h4> |
| <a name="id830198"></a> |
| <a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.description">Description</a> |
| </h4> |
| <p> |
| Fusion is a library for working with heterogenous collections of data, commonly |
| referred to as tuples. A set of containers (vector, list, set and map) is provided, |
| along with views that provide a transformed presentation of their underlying |
| data. Collectively the containers and views are referred to as sequences, and |
| Fusion has a suite of algorithms that operate upon the various sequence types, |
| using an iterator concept that binds everything together. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| The architecture is modeled after <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl/index.html" target="_top">MPL</a> |
| which in turn is modeled after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Template_Library" target="_top">STL</a>. |
| It is named "fusion" because the library is a "fusion" |
| of compile time metaprogramming with runtime programming. |
| </p> |
| <a name="fusion.preface.motivation"></a><h4> |
| <a name="id830228"></a> |
| <a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.motivation">Motivation</a> |
| </h4> |
| <p> |
| Tuples are powerful beasts. After having developed two significant projects |
| (<a href="http://spirit.sourceforge.net" target="_top">Spirit</a> and <a href="http://boost.org/libs/spirit/phoenix/index.html" target="_top">Phoenix</a>) |
| that relied heavily metaprogramming, it became apparent that tuples are a powerful |
| means to simplify otherwise tricky tasks; especially those that require a combination |
| of metaprogramming and manipulation of heterogenous data types with values. |
| While <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl/index.html" target="_top">MPL</a> is |
| an extremely powerful metaprogramming tool, <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl/index.html" target="_top">MPL</a> |
| focuses on type manipulation only. Ultimately, you'll have to map these types |
| to real values to make them useful in the runtime world where all the real |
| action takes place. |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| As <a href="http://spirit.sourceforge.net" target="_top">Spirit</a> and <a href="http://boost.org/libs/spirit/phoenix/index.html" target="_top">Phoenix</a> |
| evolved, patterns and idioms related to tuple manipulation emerged. Soon, it |
| became clear that those patterns and idioms were best assembled in a tuples |
| algorithms library. <a href="http://www.boost.org/people/dave_abrahams.htm" target="_top">David |
| Abrahams</a> outlined such a scheme in 2002. At that time, it just so happened |
| that <a href="http://spirit.sourceforge.net" target="_top">Spirit</a> and <a href="http://boost.org/libs/spirit/phoenix/index.html" target="_top">Phoenix</a> |
| had an adhoc collection of tuple manipulation and traversal routines. It was |
| an instant <span class="emphasis"><em>AHA!</em></span> moment. |
| </p> |
| <a name="fusion.preface.how_to_use_this_manual"></a><h4> |
| <a name="id830296"></a> |
| <a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.how_to_use_this_manual">How to use this manual</a> |
| </h4> |
| <p> |
| Some icons are used to mark certain topics indicative of their relevance. These |
| icons precede some text to indicate: |
| </p> |
| <div class="table"> |
| <a name="id830309"></a><p class="title"><b>Table 1.1. Icons</b></p> |
| <div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="Icons"> |
| <colgroup> |
| <col> |
| <col> |
| <col> |
| </colgroup> |
| <thead><tr> |
| <th> |
| <p> |
| Icon |
| </p> |
| </th> |
| <th> |
| <p> |
| Name |
| </p> |
| </th> |
| <th> |
| <p> |
| Meaning |
| </p> |
| </th> |
| </tr></thead> |
| <tbody> |
| <tr> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/note.png" alt="note"></span> |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| Note |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| Information provided is auxiliary but will give the reader a deeper |
| insight into a specific topic. May be skipped. |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/alert.png" alt="alert"></span> |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| Alert |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| Information provided is of utmost importance. |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/caution.png" alt="caution"></span> |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| Caution |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| A mild warning. |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| </tr> |
| <tr> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/tip.png" alt="tip"></span> |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| Tip |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| <td> |
| <p> |
| A potentially useful and helpful piece of information. |
| </p> |
| </td> |
| </tr> |
| </tbody> |
| </table></div> |
| </div> |
| <br class="table-break"><p> |
| This documentation is automatically generated by Boost QuickBook documentation |
| tool. QuickBook can be found in the <a href="http://www.boost.org/tools/index.html" target="_top">Boost |
| Tools</a>. |
| </p> |
| <a name="fusion.preface.support"></a><h4> |
| <a name="id830525"></a> |
| <a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.support">Support</a> |
| </h4> |
| <p> |
| Please direct all questions to Spirit's mailing list. You can subscribe to |
| the <a href="https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/spirit-general" target="_top">Spirit |
| Mailing List</a>. The mailing list has a searchable archive. A search link |
| to this archive is provided in <a href="http://spirit.sourceforge.net" target="_top">Spirit</a>'s |
| home page. You may also read and post messages to the mailing list through |
| <a href="news://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.spirit.general" target="_top">Spirit General |
| NNTP news portal</a> (thanks to <a href="http://www.gmane.org" target="_top">Gmane</a>). |
| The news group mirrors the mailing list. Here is a link to the archives: <a href="http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.parsers.spirit.general" target="_top">http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.parsers.spirit.general</a>. |
| </p> |
| </div> |
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| <td align="left"></td> |
| <td align="right"><div class="copyright-footer">Copyright © 2001-2007 Joel de Guzman, Dan Marsden, Tobias |
| Schwinger<p> |
| Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying |
| file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt" target="_top">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>) |
| </p> |
| </div></td> |
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