Re: A question for folks here

From: Braden Ganetsky (braden.ganetsky_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-07-15 04:16:41

I'm pretty new to Boost, and I'm mostly a lurker on the mailing list. I
originally heard of Boost when I was looking for a JSON library for a
personal project a few years ago, and Boost.Json seemed like it made the
most intuitive sense as a user. Later, since working with C++
professionally, I've been using Boost lightly at my day job over the past
few years. Things like `boost::intrusive::list` or
`boost::container::deque`, containers that allow me to do my work better.

After working for a bit, I realized I didn't like the idea of all my hard
work being owned by another entity, not freely available. Especially not
available to myself once I'm no longer at the company, even though I worked
hard writing the code. I thought it would feel good to contribute to the
community on top of my regular day job. I saw a Reddit thread where someone
was complaining about Boost documentation, and I had thought the same thing
before too. Boost documentation can be hard to work with, much harder than
cppreference which I find very easy to use. I wanted to help make Boost
docs better.

I had used Boost.Json, and I knew the name "Vinnie Falco" from him being
Boost.Json's author and from his comments on that same Reddit thread. So I
cold-emailed Vinnie asking for direction on how I could get started
contributing.

Fast-forward to now. I was since hired to work part-time with the C++
Alliance, where I've been mostly helping with Boost.Unordered optimizations
and user experience. I've been given the chance to attend a few
conferences, and even had the amazing opportunity to speak in a full slot
at C++Now 2024 just a few months ago.

I came to Boost because I wanted to contribute to the community, and I have
stayed here because of the mentorship I've received by those in the Boost
community and in the C++ Alliance. I particularly want to mention Joaquin,
who has helped me grow as a developer. I appreciate how meticulous he is in
his analysis of my code changes, without any sense of condescension or
derision.

So far I like Boost. I see myself sticking around. And maybe contributing
to the mailing list more often... but no promises.

On Wed, 10 Jul 2024 at 09:48, David Sankel via Boost <boost_at_[hidden]>
wrote:

> For those who got involved in Boost within the last couple years, how did
> you hear about boost? What attracted you to it?
>
> For those who have been around for a while, what keeps you here? Why do you
> stay engaged?
>
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