Strings

[Josh]

Here are my imperatives for strings:

 

1. Ability to add two strings, i.e. Print( a+", "+b )

 

2. Ability to insert objects into a map by string. If a mesh is loaded, I want to insert the mesh into a map and be able to retrieve it with the file path.

 

3. Maximum compatibility on all platforms.

 

 

The way I see it, I have three options:

 

1. Use std:strings.

 

2. Add operators to const char* (if it's possible)

 

3. Make my own string class.

 

 

Questions:

 

1. Is std:string safe to use? Will it work on PS3, Android, etc?

 

2. Is there a way to automatically convert a string I type into my own string object? i.e.:

String s = "Hello";

 

Thanks.

[Canardia]

Use std::string always, don't even think about using anything else. It will work everywhere, even on my AIX system which is so backwards like an dinosaur (well it's actually so because IBM is a dinosaur)

 

You CAN use char* for extremely speed sensitive system functions, but for user code it's always string which you should use. In system programming you have to use pure C anyway, since every nanosecond of delay matters. That's why it's also good to mix C with C++ code for cases where you know exactly that it's an abstract code and does not fail with infinite amount of data.

 

A game engine is not system programming, so you can use C++ and STL freely.

 

Making an own String class will give you a slower string class, since STL has been insanely well optimized over years. Even a normal QuickSort routine is slower than STL's built-in sorting functions, because STL switches automatically between different sorting algorithms according to the data type and structure you want to sort.

It may also be that some C++ compilers are especially optimized to provide maximum performance with STL classes, so no custom classes can ever beat that.

[Masterxilo]

All the std:: (template) classes are guaranteed to work in any complete C++ implementation.

[Pixel Perfect]

Agreed, STL is definitely the way to go.

[Roland]

std::string period.

[Josh]

Please, try not to argue with one another.

[Mumbles]

Funnily enough, only a few days ago I found myself writing a soft of beginners guide to using Leadwerks in a C/C++ environment and one of the topics was strings. Even I was saying to use the std::string and I'm by no means an expert compared to the rest of the posters in this thread.

[TylerH]

boost::string is useful in some cases...

[Roland]

boost::string is useful in some cases...

 

But then you are forcing users to have Boost installed.

[Canardia]

They need boost anyway, because LuaBind needs it. The Codewerks installer can have all libs it needs packaged with it, and then its up to the user if he wants to install them, or if he already has them installed.

 

That's how BlitzMax works too, it has all the libs it needs packaged with it.

[Roland]

They need boost anyway, because LuaBind needs it. The Codewerks installer can have all libs it needs packaged with it, and then its up to the user if he wants to install them, or if he already has them installed.

 

That's how BlitzMax works too, it has all the libs it needs packaged with it.

Okidoki