Re: [boost] asio projects (was: Boost and Google Summer of Code 2007)

From: Christopher Kohlhoff (chris_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-03-12 09:14:30

On Sun, 4 Mar 2007 01:48:33 +0300, "Alexander Nasonov" <alnsn_at_[hidden]>
said:
> John Maddock wrote:
> > Dear Boosters,
> > 
> > It is a pleasure to announce that Boost will be applying as a mentoring 
> > organization for the upcoming Google Summer of Code 2007. There is a lot of 
> > preparation work to be done and little time to do it.
> > 
> > A page has been set up at the Boost Wiki:
> > 
> > http://www.crystalclearsoftware.com/cgi-bin/boost_wiki/wiki.pl?Google_Summer_Of_Code_2007
> 
> Interestingly, 2 out of 7 proposals are extensions for the asio library.
> These are:
> - Implementing application level protocols using asio
> - Implementing an ORB/RPC system using asio

This grew into quite a long thread during my absence, so I'll just
quickly toss my 2 cents in here.

- I think for the application level protocols, it would be better to
pick one commonly used and non-trivial protocol (whether it be HTTP, FTP
or something else) but preferably with the intent of implementing both
client and server side. Implementing the protocol is almost the easy
bit. Surveying existing practice, designing a reusable API, and
demonstrating that it is reusable is more of a challenge.

- Agree that a whole ORB is too ambitious. Anyway, aren't ORBs a bit
passe? ;)

- Semi-discrete additions to asio functionality (async file support,
pipes, database access etc) also sound worth pursuing.

However don't let that stop anyone from suggesting other, possibly
totally novel, ideas for asio projects!

Cheers,
Chris