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Comment by kccqzy

2 months ago

In C++ regular types have the property that const is deep. If you have a const std::vector<int> the you can't modify any of the integers contained in this container. Naturally for flexibility reasons not all types are regular, pointers being the prominent exception, and things like std::string_view being modern examples of non-regular types.

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kccqzy

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vlovich123  2 months ago

I feel like you could benefit from watching Scott Meyers about the silliness in C++ if you feel like there’s a consistent and logical feel to the language. A lot of this is c++-isms masquerading sensible ideas through official terms (regular and non-regular types)

  • kccqzy  2 months ago

    Oh I certainly do not feel like there's consistency in the language. The C++ language is such that everyone picks a subset that makes sense to them and is relatively consistent.

    Regular and non-regular types are however a basic idea that transcends languages. I can write a snippet in Python too:

        import copy
    from some.random.module.on.pypi import foo
    a = foo()
    b = copy.copy(a)
    assert a == b

    If that assertion fails it implies the type isn't regular.

    • vlovich123  2 months ago

      Can you point me to terminology other than the c++ spec (preferably literature) that defines regular types? I can only find references to this concept in c++ land.

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