[boost] Re: Re: Customer Friendlier Boost Installation

From: Hendrik Schober (SpamTrap_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-05-26 06:24:28

David Bergman <davidb_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> [...]
> By the way, I think there indeed is a correlation between "make
> -k"/"bjam"-adaptable developers and those using the most complex portions of
> Boost.
>
> [...] I've worked with
> > quite advanced and competent developers who are only
> > comfortable in an IDE.
>
> But they sure would be able to change one or two environment variables and
> type 'bjam', right?
>
> [...]
>
> The risk is that Boost will inevitably belong to those 50% of the C++
> standard that is never touched by most developers, ever. None of the "C++
> experts" I have interviewed for employment has heard of the keyword
> 'typename' or used template template parameters, or used 'virtual' base
> classes.
>
> [...] Boost actually might help reunifying C++
> again, instead of constituting two languages, one for MFC:ers [...] and
> one for "experts", which it does today, IMEHO.

  Just for some background:

  We are using more than two dozen 3rd-party SDKs and
  libraries, both free software and commercial ones,
  some across almost half a dozen platforms. We are
  using boost since 2001.

  I have never written an MFC app. Not a single one.
  (Of a dozen or so developers here, I know one who
  has for some toy projects.)

  I am considered the "C++ expert" here and people
  often are annoyed that I am forcing them to learn
  where 'typename' is required, how template template
  parameters are working, and what these 4k error
  messages from template meta code mean. :^> (I would
  suppose everyone here knows what virtual bases are
  for.)

  I have failed to build/install boost without
  putting considerably more effort into it than I
  needed to put into many other libraries. That is, I
  was unable to just download it and check it out.
  I think this would be the same with most Win/Mac
  developers here.

> /David Bergman

  Schobi

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