Sarita Bafna: VC++ "Orcas" - Marshaling Library and MFC support for Common Controls

Only support for strings?  Uhm, that's like saying "Hey, we have this great marshaling library but it only supports strings".  LOL

That's not really a library but more like a code snippet.  Don't get me all excited about interop then give me something so trivial.  Is something wrong with the code below?

Utils::Utils(void)
{
}

const char* Utils::MarshalString( String ^ s )
{
   using namespace Runtime::InteropServices;
   const char* chars = (const char*)   (Marshal::StringToHGlobalAnsi(s)).ToPointer();
   return chars;
}

tcp::endpoint Utils::MarshalEndPoint( System::Net::IPEndPoint ^endpoint )
{
   return tcp::endpoint(Utils::MarshalAddress(endpoint->Address), endpoint->Port);
}

boost::filesystem::path Utils::MarshalFileInfo(System::String ^fullPath)
{
   return boost::filesystem::path(Utils::MarshalString(fullPath));
}

System::Collections::Generic::List<float>^ Utils::MarshalFloatVector(std::vector<float>& data)
{
   System::Collections::Generic::List<float>^ items = gcnew System::Collections::Generic::List<float>;
   for(int i = 0; i < data.size(); i++)
      items->Add(data[i]);
   return items;
}

Yes yes...  I never said the interview was bad or even that the idea was bad.  I was just pointing out that the library does not exist yet.  Sort of like counting your chickens before they hatch, something we all know can cause quite a bit of shoot-self-in-foot action.

My whole intention was to put my code out there and ask what the difference is between their interop and mine, if any.  I was a bit excited to see that there will be some new marshaling classes but was let down when they said "only strings are supported" since that's probably the most trivial aspect.

I really look forward to having a marshaling library that allows for fast marshaling between my native and managed types, without having to focus on it too much.

Good interview and nice handwriting too.

Thanks!

BryanF wrote:

I think you're being a bit myopic. Developers should have considerably fewer headaches as a result of all the technologies she talked about. Certainly the updated control library, in particular, will be welcomed.

I thought it was a good interview myself. Additionally, I have to say she has some of the nicest whiteboard handwriting I've seen.