RoaringBitmap / RoaringBitmap/CRoaring

Adding standard-conforming iterators for C++

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#669 4 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Dominant language
C
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Description

A few months ago I added a standards-conforming iterator to the C++ interface for 32bit croaring. It's always frustrated me that the iterator support in the C++ interface isn't "right". For example, a conforming forward iterator needs to be an lvalue, but this means an iterator struct can't actually be empty/have no content. The "trick" of using a static "empty" iterator for end() also really bothers me as just "icky" :).

I find this page invaluable for considering iterator classes in C++: https://cplusplus.com/reference/iterator/

The iterators we have are kind of a mishmash of various things but the only type of iterator they actually fully implement is the simple input iterator. All other classes of iterator have something missing.

On the other hand, it's not clear to me that we can implement a "correct" STL iterator without any backward-compatibility issues with what's there now.

What are peoples' thoughts about this.

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Research direction

Review the existing C++ iterator support for the 32-bit CRoaring interface and compare it with the referenced C++ iterator requirements. Determine whether fully standard-conforming iterators can be added without breaking backward compatibility; completion requires an agreed design, not just an isolated edit.

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Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
api
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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