Re: [boost] Making two Boost libraries interoperate

Subject: Re: [boost] Making two Boost libraries interoperate
From: Robert Ramey (ramey_at_[hidden])
Date: 2019-04-24 18:33:55

On 4/24/19 10:54 AM, Rene Rivera via Boost wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 24, 2019 at 11:45 AM Robert Ramey via Boost <
> boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> 
>> On 4/24/19 8:56 AM, Joaquin M López Muñoz via Boost wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Not sure if this helps, but the way I did it in Boost.Flyweight is by
>>> isolating all serialization code
>>> in a separate header:
>>>
>>>
>> https://www.boost.org/libs/flyweight/doc/reference/flyweight.html#serialize_synopsis
>>
>> This does help! or it would help if our dependency tools understood
>> this.  In particular flyweight library is not dependent on the
>> serialization libraries.  Only apps which use the flyweight library AND
>> the serialization library are dependent on the serialization library.
>> Our notion of "dependency" obscures this.
>>
> 
> It's only "our notion" in the sense that they mirror the notion of
> dependencies that users of *external* package managers, dependency
> managers, and users thereof have. 

Right.  I don't mean to suggest that it's only boosts problem.  It's a 
problem in the assumptions that all these packages make. As more and 
more projects are built by composition of more and more libraries (a 
good thing!)  It becomes apparent that the original "naive notion" 
breaks down. That's what we're seeing.

I.e. it's things like vcpkg, conan, cget,
> nix, and many more that use the "modular" level dependency view.
> 

Robert Ramey