Development [LWN.net]

The Boost C++ Libraries

December 6, 2005

This article was contributed by Matthew Vogt

Whatever type of software you develop, there probably exists an open-source C++ library that can help you avoid re-inventing the wheel. However, C++ offers no analog of Perl's CPAN or Java's extensive environment, so it can be difficult to find code of sufficiently high quality which can be easily integrated with code from other sources. In recent years, the Boost C++ Libraries have become the place where a C++ developer should look first when seeking quality open-source C++ components.

[Boost] Boost is the product of an informal group of C++ programmers developing free open-source libraries that are high-quality, portable and widely useful.

The Boost C++ Libraries provide components that can be employed in just about every development project. Boost libraries are among the most powerful and portable components in the world of C++ development. Whereas the quality of open-source code is often an unknown quantity, the standard of code distributed in the Boost distribution is remarkably high, owing to the extensive peer review process required to accept libraries into the distribution. Each library in the Boost distribution has been reviewed by the Boost developers and accepted through an open voting process, ensuring a consistently high level of quality, and an adherence to principles of the C++ community. Boost libraries are designed to work well with the C++ Standard Library, and other libraries designed around the principles embodied in the Standard Library. Boost libraries are loosely-coupled, and designed so that you can use only what you need, without trying to provide an all-encompassing environment.

Boost libraries are all released under the Boost Software License, an extremely permissive license which is designed to make the libraries equally useful to commercial and non-commercial developers. The Boost Software License is very similar to the MIT License, with the major difference that object code derived from Boost-licensed source code can be redistributed without the reproduction of copyright messages. This is required to permit all developers to use Boost libraries in all of their code, without concern over eventual distribution requirements.

The current version of the Boost Libraries is Version 1.33.1, released on December 5, 2005. It contains 63 libraries to assist C++ developers. Many of these libraries are useful in a broad range of application development, such as the threads library, the regular expression library, the portable filesystem library and the smart-pointer library. Other Boost libraries help to make C++ a more expressive and productive language in which to develop. These libraries include the generalized function and bind facilities, the signals library and support for named (rather than positional) function arguments. Finally, Boost also contains libraries that are designed to help C++ developers improve their own libraries; examples include the concept-checking library, the unit testing library, the library for developing iterators and that for accessing type traits.

Perhaps the best reason to use Boost, however, is because of its contribution to the C++ Standard Library: using the Boost libraries today is a foretaste of the next C++ Standard Library revision. The C++ standards committee favor the standardization of proposals that have proven their worth in real-world use. Boost is an ideal proving ground for such proposals, and this has been demonstrated in the Proposed Draft Technical Report on C++ Library extensions (PDF), known as 'TR1', the first specification of likely additions to the next C++ standard. Ten of the fourteen included proposals were implemented first as Boost libraries, and proven mature and robust in the Boost distribution. Other Boost libraries have been proposed for acceptance into the next Technical Report ('TR2'), open until October 1, 2006.

Boost development is ongoing, you can participate by joining the mailing list for development, or the boost-users mailing list to discuss using the Boost libraries in your development work.

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