Re: C++11 or C++14?

From: Martijn Otto (boost_at_[hidden])
Date: 2022-07-24 18:56:00

I work for corporation that is pretty pragmatic about these things. We
like to use the newest toys that modern c++ gives us, but since we need
to support older versions of macOS, we are limited by what we can use
for the lowest supported deployment target.

Given that: Until very recently we used c++17, but with a set of
standard library features that was off-limits. Examples of these are
things like std::variant (because std::bad_variant_access requires
10.14), std::filesystem (requires 10.15 for std::filesystem_error).

We've recently started using c++20, which works fine for all the
language features - even if not all the library features are supported.

In short: What I tihnk is relevant is is which library features you
depend on. Compilers are easily updated, without much risk, but if you
depend on library features with a compiled component, you'd need to be
aware of which OS-version supports it. macOS is usually the lowest
common denominator in this.

On Sun, 2022-07-24 at 10:09 -0700, Vinnie Falco via Boost-users wrote:
> I'm considering bumping up the C++ language requirement for Boost.URL
> from C++11 to C++14. I have concerns about doing this, because it
> affects all my downstream libraries (HTTP.Proto, HTTP.IO,
> Websocket.Proto, Websocket.IO, and any examples or complete
> clients/servers that I write).
> 
> My main fear is that there are still a considerable number of
> individuals or corporations who, for whatever reason, cannot build
> with -std=c++14 or later despite having access to newer compilers. I
> don't mind if there is a small percentage of loss but I do mind if
> 20%
> or more of potential users will be locked out.
> 
> The questions are:
> 
> 1. Would you or your company be prevented from using Boost.URL if it
> required C++14?
> 
> 2. Do you know any other organizations who cannot use C++14 or later?
> 
> 3. Do you know of any regional or global metrics on who _cannot_ use
> libraries which require C++14?
> 
> See also, this reddit thread on r/cpp:
> 
> <https://www.reddit.com/r/cpp/comments/w6zuo5/c11_or_require_c14/>
>