Interdependence of Boost libraries

From: Thomas Matelich (toms-mailing-lists_at_[hidden])
Date: 2001-11-12 15:08:50

This is spawned by discussion about Boost.Assert, but I've been
concerned for a little while. Boost.Assert seems to be a well designed
system and I like it in general, but I'm concerned about introducing
it.  The point I'm going to try to address is keeping Boost accessible
to newcomers.

The best counter-example that I can think of is when I first started to
use ACE.  To use one class, you need to read up on something resembling
500 other classes (perhaps a slight exaggeration).  Obviously there is a
purpose, and after getting into it, I like ACE and appreciate its
design.  On the other hand, the standard library is pretty cool in the
other direction.  I can learn about iostreams and complex by themselves,
I can learn about vector without list, algorithms, or auto_ptr, etc.  Of
course as you learn about more of the STL, you see how things draw
together with one vision.

I realize I could use Boost libraries without caring about Assert, but
not quite.  In summary, I have no solution and there is not a big
problem, yet.  We've been working on getting the website more
navigable/accessible, let's try to make sure the collection stays that
way too.

--
Thomas O Matelich
Senior Software Designer
Zetec, Inc.
matelich_at_[hidden]
tmatelich_at_[hidden]