feat: quantities can now be multiplied and divided by units

This commit is contained in:
Mateusz Pusz
2023-09-29 21:40:24 -06:00
parent 476a68ce8e
commit b2423bfded
25 changed files with 79 additions and 118 deletions
-41
View File
@@ -92,47 +92,6 @@ In the **mp-units** library, both a number and a unit have to always be explicit
form a quantity.
## Why `60 * km / h` does not compile?
The library design does not allow multiplying or dividing a quantity (the result of `60 * km`)
by another unit. This significantly limits the number of possible errors and surprises in the
quantity equations.
Consider the following expression:
```cpp
auto q = 60 * km / 2 * h;
```
Looks like `30 km/h`, right? But it is not. If the above code was allowed, it would result
in `30 km⋅h`. In case you want to divide `60 * km` by `2 * h` a parenthesis is needed:
```cpp
auto q = 60 * km / (2 * h);
```
Another surprising issue could result from the following code:
```cpp
template<typename T>
auto make_length(T v) { return v * si::metre; }
auto v = 42;
auto q = make_length(v);
```
The above might look like a good idea, but consider what would happen in the user provided
an already existing quantity:
```cpp
auto v = 42 * m;
auto q = make_length(v);
```
Fortunately, with the current design, such issues are detected at compile-time as
multiplying or dividing a quantity by a unit is not be supported.
## Why a dimensionless quantity is not just a fundamental arithmetic type?
In the initial design of this library, the resulting type of division of two quantities was their