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Subject: Re: [boost] List of C++ 11 only Boost libraries and their status?
From: Paul A. Bristow (pbristow_at_[hidden])
Date: 2014-11-28 04:56:20


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Boost [mailto:boost-bounces_at_[hidden]] On Behalf Of Gottlob Frege
> Sent: 27 November 2014 21:26
> To: boost_at_[hidden]
> Subject: Re: [boost] List of C++ 11 only Boost libraries and their status?
>
> On Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 10:51 AM, Robert Ramey <ramey_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> > I have to say I don't get the point of such a review.
> >
> > Boost has never had a requirement that a library support anything
> > other than the latest available C++ standard.

I'm not sure it has even had that -

Are any compilers really fully compliant with any standard even now?
Is any standard really that fully defined?

> Would boost push C++11 better if its libraries were
> backwards compatible (so as to "ease" people into
> C++11) or should a library abandon old C++ and "force" users to move
> forward?

No - not gratuitously.
 
> If I was to write a new library, that _could_ be old-C++ compatible, but with
extra
> work, should I put in that extra work?

Only a little extra work. Sometimes it is trivial, when it would increase
potential users to the many stuck with old compilers.

> The further question, which I think should be discussed here or at
> BoostCon/C++Now, is what is Boost's role *today*? Is boost still a stepping
stone
> to the standard? (I find that with the standard's new pace, and with its push
to use
> TS's, "stepping stone" is now a more minor role for boost. For better or
worse - ie
> I'm not sure if it is good for the standard.) Or is boost now a place for good
libraries,
> most of which aren't general enough to be in std, but are really good and
really
> useful when you need them?
> Or is boost a maintenance effort for old libraries for older compilers. (I
don't think
> Boost is just that, but is it part of its
> role?)

FWIW, I think it is still both - but the balance may be shifting.

Paul

---
Paul A. Bristow
Prizet Farmhouse
Kendal UK LA8 8AB
+44 (0) 1539 561830

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