Re: [boost] The future and present of Boost

Subject: Re: [boost] The future and present of Boost
From: Peter Dimov (pdimov_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-10-24 14:59:48

Mike Dev wrote:

> - Unnecessary dependencies. All the projects I'm working on nowadays   are 
> c++14 or even 17. Why the hell does the latest version of my  preferred 
> boost library X still have a dependency on boost library Y that has been 
> merged into the standard since c++11 or been superseded by c++11 language 
> feature? It just adds complexity to the build process, increases compile 
> times and sometimes leads to subtle bugs. I'm paying (sometimes little 
> sometimes heavily) for something I don't use/need (c++98 compatibility).

We've been over this a few times already. We can't simultaneously support 
C++03 and C++14 (without heroics) because these are ABI- and 
API-incompatible. If the library uses boost::function it works regardless of 
whether the user is on C++03 or on C++17; but if it switches to 
std::function automatically when available, then whenever the user's -std 
and the compiled Boost's -std differ, trouble ensues.

We can switch to std::function unconditionally, but only if we drop C++03 
(for some definition of C++03 because only the latest and greatest MSVC is 
~fully C++11 compliant.)