Re: [boost] [test] Boost.test failures in develop

Subject: Re: [boost] [test] Boost.test failures in develop
From: Rob Stewart (rob.stewart_at_[hidden])
Date: 2015-10-05 04:51:37

On October 4, 2015 5:59:16 AM EDT, Gennadiy Rozental <rogeeff_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> Andrey Semashev <andrey.semashev <at> gmail.com> writes:
> > 
> > This makes Boost.Test unsuitable for testing Boost libraries that 
> > support C++03 (currently - nearly all). Are you suggesting to start 
> > porting tests from Boost.Test to another testing framework?
> 
> No need. We'll figure something out. I hope we just decide to forget
> about 
> c++03 in near future (by 'we' I mean boost community). Why would you
> fight 
> for maintaining the compatibility? Many people do not have access to
> these 
> compilers anymore. I, for example, pretty much will have to use
> develop 
> branch to test compilation and tests. 

Where's your data on the number of people with and without access to "these compilers"? GCC and Clang require options to enable C++11/4, or at least did in fairly recent versions. That means changing a flag enables C++03 mode. Note also that many corporate users cannot yet switch to C++11 for many reasons, and they are often required to justify the use of Boost, which is easier to do as a while than one library at a time.

The result of the foregoing is that many Boost libraries continue to support C++03 either by maintaining separate versions or through conditional compilation. Maintenance of an old version can mean nothing more than adjusting to changes in core libraries. Note that arguing that users can use older versions of Boost is unhelpful since that denies those users access to new libraries, or fixes to current libraries, even if those libraries support C++03.

The choice to support C++03 lies with the library maintainer(s). The consequences of dropping that support may be good or bad and will vary with each library. For Boost.Test, doing so means that any Boost library that continues to support C++03 will have to switch to another test framework. Many have already made that switch, of course, for various reasons. The decision is yours.

___
Rob

(Sent from my portable computation engine)