Re: [boost] [system] Why is this not header-only?

From: Jeff Garland (jeff_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-04-03 16:54:25

Sohail Somani wrote:

> Oh come on guys, aren't we just getting silly? To avoid what? Adding cpp
> files to the build?

Yeah, actually.  Here's a response to your earlier mail:

Sohail Somani wrote:

 >> This is a non-issue. With header-only libraries, step 1 is
 >> the only thing that disappears and you might even be lucky
 >> enough to disable language extensions in your project.

I assure you, given the number of posts on this list and the -user list, 
building boost is something people have issues with.  I've had to answer the 
'link errors' question many times for date-time -- even though this is basic 
knowledge that all developers should have, and it's "all in the docs".

 > Actually, step 1 is replaced with "try build with bjam, send emails to
 > the mailing list"
 >

Right, and best case, you're into an hour or two of fiddling around that had 
nothing to do with what you were trying to accomplish -- which is simply to 
read the docs and use the library.  And while I understand the sentiment the 
C++ programmers have been dealing with this for years, etc, etc.. it's still 
really nice when getting started with a new lib that the barrier to entry is 
more like a scripting language than traditional C/C++ libs.

Jeff