Re: [boost] Core libraries should separated from experimental libraries

Subject: Re: [boost] Core libraries should separated from experimental libraries
From: Stefan Seefeld (seefeld_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-11-22 13:33:02

On 11/22/2009 07:13 AM, Thomas Klimpel wrote:
>
> There are some libraries in the sandbox already in active real world use, even so they still have a long way to go before they are ready for a formal review request. In my case it is the numeric_bindings library, but there are many more libraries of this sort. Among others, numeric_bindings depends on Boost.uBlas, which is probably not a "core" library in your view of the world. It's regression tests also depend on Boost.Build. Having to run regression tests against a number of released boost versions in addition to running regression tests against a number of blas/lapack implementations compiled with different fortran compilers is less funny and more time consuming than it looks from the distance. And yes, there were issues, Boost.Build changed incompatible from 1.33 to 1.34, there was a minor bug in 1.35 in a boost library numeric_bindings depended on (sorry, I don't remember exactly which, but I could look it up if it is important to you), there were changes in uBlas that
>   forced some updates to numeric_bindings library, even so it was possible to update it without breaking compatibility with older boost releases.
>    

Actually, I'm not very fond of the idea of such a simple 'core' / 
'non-core' split. What would certainly help is to consider 
inter-component (library) dependencies, to see which ones are 
prerequisites for others. 'core' is then merely an alias for those that 
don't depend on 'non-core', are themselves depended on, and are stable.

> I'm just not sure that it will be easy to agree on a set of core 
> libraries.

Probably not, but I'm not sure that such difficulties are a reason not 
even to start. Spinning off stable components into their own 
(build-,package-,release-)procedure is an incremental process, and 
doesn't require everybody to agree upfront what components should go 
through this in the long run.

     Stefan

-- 
       ...ich hab' noch einen Koffer in Berlin...