Re: [boost] Library Federation

Subject: Re: [boost] Library Federation
From: Andrey Semashev (andrey.semashev_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-08-12 07:16:31

On 08/12/18 00:18, Robert Ramey via Boost wrote:
> On 8/11/18 1:12 PM, Andrey Semashev via Boost wrote:
> 
>> I'm not quite sure what exactly you are proposing.
>>
>> Â From my experience, when I was developing Boost.Log, I simply 
>> symlinked its tree into my Boost tree and had almost no problems with 
>> that setup. I didn't even have to run `b2 headers` whenever I added a 
>> new header to the library because `boost/log` was already a symlink to 
>> my `include/boost/log` directory. So in my case, this setup was mostly 
>> painless.
> 
> Right - that's what we all do regardless of whether one does it by 
> "hand" or via b2 headers.

I think I might have phrased my previous reply not clearly enough. I 
only symlinked `libs/log` and then ran `b2 headers` once, which created 
`boost/log` pointing at `libs/log/include/boost/log`. So the only thing 
one has to do is to put the library into the Boost tree somehow and then 
he can work with Boost, including his new library, as normal.

>> I'm sure I wouldn't want to construct a setup based on environment 
>> variables because, as I usually do, I wouldn't want to modify my 
>> default environment this way. This would affect my work with other 
>> projects. Which would force me to create a special environment for 
>> working with Boost, which would just add more hassle.
> 
> Actually this is a big part of my motivation.  I work on multiple 
> projects.  Boost stuff, non-boost C++, embedded systems, and fiddling 
> with non-boost libraries. These use different tools and different 
> compilers - even if C/C++.  So I have to have different environment, 
> path variables, etc for each one.  I have a system which maintains all 
> these is a "project configuration file"Â  so I can easily suspend work on 
> one project and switch to another.  Takes about 1 second. So for me this 
> is a natural way to do things.

Yes, I also have projects that require a special environment, and I have 
scripts that set up that environment. I find that inconvenient because I 
must remember to run the scripts before starting to work on one of these 
projects and I must be careful to know which console has that 
environment and which doesn't. With Boost, I don't have to do that.