boost C++ library
Boost refers to an extensive collection of software libraries for the C++ programming language, which is available under the terms of the Boost Software License at the link below. The implementations are all based on the current state of the C++ standard. With the support of Boost not only solutions realized in C++ are reused, but also the possibilities of the Standard Template Library( STL) of C++ are enormously extended, since a broad spectrum of problem definitions is covered by Boost. At the same time, the Boost libraries are completely independent of any particular platform.
The quality assurance of Boost takes place over a detailed - very stringently aligned - system of rules. In the course of the time parts of the Boost library were raised to the C++ standard. The use of Boost libraries is now also a frequently chosen way for commercial projects to increase their productivity.
Activities of the Boost Community
The development, quality assurance and dissemination of Boost is the task of the Boost Community, whose beginnings date back to 1998 at the instigation of the C++ Standardization Committee. Currently, however, numerous C++ developers are involved in this community in a worldwide network - some of them are still in the C++ standardization committee in parallel. Thus also the standardization process of C++ is supported substantially quite likewise on the part of the developers. The objective of the community has not changed - it still serves the development of C++ libraries with high demands on the quality of the software, which extends the existing C++ standard with new functionality. The communication of the Boost community takes place via so-called mailing lists - these are also available at the link below and are intended for questions, problems as well as discussions. The terms of the Boost Software License allow the free use of the Boost library as a whole or in parts in any case, i.e. also in commercial projects, provided that the copyright notice is mentioned. This also includes the modification of the freely available source code and its distribution.
The rules in the Boost Community are, among other things, quite stringent in the actual development process: If a new library is to be included, it must first go through a review phase lasting several days, the outcome of which is completely open. However, the following are indispensable prerequisites for the start of the review phase,
- the library must demonstrably solve an open problem,
- the implementation must comply with the C++ standards and
- a proper documentation must be available.
Also already in the collection established libraries go for each new version through this Review phase. Among other things also the executability on different compilers and platforms is ensured. Boost's approach to portability and the influences of the open source development model support this process. Community developers also evaluate the new library and provide their results to a review manager, who then makes the final decision. The rules in detail can be read on the given website.
The Boost Libraries and the Template Library
The Boost libraries extend the spectrum of the standard Template Library (STL) of C++ around um-fangreiche and platform-independent problem solutions. The STL lacks, for example, components for the handling of threads as well as network functions, components for serialization, functions for the automatic generation of web services or for accessing databases. The Boost libraries compensate this condition by a multiplicity of available libraries for different problem solutions. Thereby Boost tries to use core mechanisms of C++ like the characteristics of the template programming - generic programming as well as meta programming.
The Boost libraries currently provide solutions for the following topics, among others: Asynchronous input and output, serialization, data structures, algorithms, event handling, multithreading, exception handling, template programming, functions and concurrency.