Re: [boost] SOCI 3.0.0 - The Database Access Library

From: Beman Dawes (bdawes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-07-10 11:24:35

Maciej Sobczak wrote:

>...

> This release is also a good motivation for reviving the discussion on 
> the future Boost database library.
> As you have seen during the last couple of years, SOCI is one of the 
> very few (should I say "the only one"?) projects that actually move 
> forward and that are now culturally consistent with Boost.
> The extensive out-of-the-box integration with the Boost datatypes, Boost 
> license and compliant naming conventions, already make SOCI the natural 
> choice in those projects that use Boost libraries.
> As a natural consequence of this, the following question has to be asked:
> 
> What is the future of database interfacing from the Boost community 
> point of view?

A reasonably portable database interface would be a major addition to 
Boost, IMO.

> Proposing SOCI as a candidate library for Boost might be a possible 
> answer to this question, but it is not obvious in a wider perspective. 
> Some of the SOCI users do not use Boost for various reasons and this 
> justifies retaining SOCI as a separate entity (note: even though SOCI 
> offers extensive integration with Boost, it does not mandate it and SOCI 
> can be compiled without any reference to Boost). Most likely solution is 
> to keep SOCI orbiting around Boost in terms of coding conventions and 
> seamless interfacing, as it does today, so that benefits for all 
> interested parties can be retained.

Please be aware that a Boost team is working on a new set of build and 
distribution tools built around CMake. One of the objectives is to 
provide binary installers (at least for the more common platforms) that 
  allow the user to pick and choose which libraries are to be installed. 
I'm under the impression that the binary installers are very close to 
being ready. That might address part of your integration concerns.

Boost has to continue to change to allow ever more libraries. We may 
well need to work out ways to bring libraries under the Boost umbrella 
without actually integrating them into the Boost SVN or release 
mechanisms. So please don't be put off because SOCI might have 
difficulty integrating into Boost as Boost stands today.

Thanks,

--Beman