> I understand that people can have many things to say about C++, and I do as well, but `std::span` should have been there decades ago (...)

Decades is kind of a stretch. C++11 introduced smart pointers, and finally getting C++0x out of the door was already a major victory. Given the history of C++, it would be unrealistic to introduce something like std::span before C++17.

Meantime, some organizations are still struggling to migrate to something like C++14.

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pjmlp 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It could have been there since the beginning, given that open arrays (aka spans) already existed in other languages, and there was even a failed proposal from Denis Ritchie regarding C.

The C++ span proposal came from Microsoft,

https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2018/p01...

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gignico 28 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Afaik std::span does not need anything that was not in C++98 already, or am I missing something?

	▲	locknitpicker 8 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> Afaik std::span does not need anything that was not in C++98 already, or am I missing something? You're missing the fact that following C++98 it took around 13 years to get the next version of the standard published delivered.