Re: [boost] Environment Variables Library?

Subject: Re: [boost] Environment Variables Library?
From: Gavin Lambert (gavinl_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-05-19 20:01:34

On 19/05/2015 18:38, Andrey Semashev wrote:
> On Tue, May 19, 2015 at 2:27 AM, Gavin Lambert wrote:
>> They're more popular in POSIX; but at least on Windows, environment
>> variables are considered old-fashioned and discouraged from use without
>> significant compelling reason.
>
> Is there a reference for such a discouragement? Sure, most
> Windows-only programs just use registry but I wouldn't say environment
> variables are discouraged from being used. For instance, most
> development software, including MSVC, use environment for
> configuration, and registry is not seen as a replacement.

There's a distinction between command line and GUI tools.  Environment 
variables are more likely to be used by command line tools, as they tend 
to be more script-friendly.

It's rarer for environment variables to be used by GUI tools, and it's 
discouraged for a GUI tool to add itself to the global PATH on install, 
for example.

(Even command line tools are encouraged to make shortcuts or scripts 
that temporarily add themselves to the PATH or set other variables for a 
particular command line session, rather than doing so globally.)