[boost] First look at Boost 1.18.0

From: John Maddock (John_Maddock_at_[hidden])
Date: 2000-10-03 06:47:55

Daryle,

>I noticed that some of the regex stuff still had makefiles and shell
scripts
>with them.  Are they needed; couldn't the compiler's default (CLI app)
>settings and the Boost configuration macros be sufficient?  Remember that
>the make files don't cover all environments, and that make files in
general
>(or at least UNIX/DOS ones) aren't convenient to certain environments.

You're free to ignore them if you want, however for supported compilers
they are much more convenient than the alternative (leaving them out) -
this is particulary true for compilers with mutiple runtime libraries (MS
and Borland mostly), where it really is vital that the regex code is
compiled to use the same runtime that your exe is using (otherwise you're
into mysterious runtime crashes).

BTW the configure issue is still ongoing - there is a lot of configuration
"intelligence" in re_detail/regex_config.hpp that needs to go into
config.hpp in the long run, most of the time auto-configure will do the
right thing, but for Unix platforms running the configure script is still
the prefered option - not for compiler dependencies, but for platform
specific header file depenencies (or even machine specific - for example
pthread.h is optional on some platforms).

- John.