[THRIFT-2061] Use boost::optional instead of bitfields

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Open
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Unresolved
• Component/s: C++ - Compiler
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Vitali Lovich
• Created: 24/Jun/13 16:59
• Updated: 21/Sep/14 21:06

Description

Switching to boost::optional instead of bitfields will give us some advantages. Here is the reasoning:

• no more ambiguity on when to call .__set_XXX vs setting the field directly.
• removes a bunch of code & makes it cleaner to us: no more obj.__isset.field, but instead obj.field.
• makes it more compatible when dealing with Java & C+: code written in Java cannot be ported to C+ mechanically; requires thought to ensure you're using the thrift object in the semantics appropriate for the language.
• makes it better than Java: numbers are handled as consistently as objects
• boost::optional is on-track for C++14; will be easy to have code generate std::optional via a switch.
• boost::optional is header-only & generated thrift code already depends on boost headers

Challenges:

Issue Links

• relates to: THRIFT-2717 C++V2 generator/library