Re: [Boost-users] Getting started with Boost: what did you need to know?

From: Jim Douglas (jim_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-02-04 05:30:25

Drumheller, Michael wrote:
> Main stumbling point for me was bjam.  It's not so much of a problem for
> building the libraries themselves--you don't need to know anything about
> it at all, really.  But when you start building your own extensions, it
> would be helpful to have a dozen or so examples of really basic
> operations, like changing the destination directory, defining a
> preprocessor macro on the compiler command line, stuff like that.
> 
> I have to say, I'm almost embarrassed to be writing this, because it
> seems like nobody on this list ever complains about bjam.  So maybe it's
> just me.  But to me, bjam is an incomprehensible monster, a big YALITTC
> (yet-another-link-in-the-tool-chain) that just makes it harder to sell
> boost within an organization.

Perhaps people don't complain because most only use bjam it to build the 
libraries (archives and shared objects) and then (like me) they use 
'make' to build the projects that incorporate Boost. I would guess that 
you are in the minority if you write in-house extensions to the Boost 
library.

Having said that, I can appreciate that bjam is a *very* powerful tool 
and has many advantages over make, but I just can't find the time to 
study the docs enough to make a trial switch.

Jim