C++ All-In-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3. Investigating Boost

In This Chapter

• Considering what Boost can do for you

• Getting Boost and installing it

• Working with the Boost Jam tool

• Integrating the Boost Build add-on

• Integrating the Boost Regression add-on

• Working with the Boost Inspect tool

• Using the BoostBook document format

• Integrating the Boost QuickBook add-on

• Working with the Boost bcp tool

• Working with the Boost Wave tool

• Creating your first application using Boost

As your skill with C++ improves, you find that you need additional functionality that doesn't come with the Standard Library or with the Standard Template Library (STL). For example, the simple act of checking a string for specific character sequences (such as a telephone number pattern) can prove difficult. You can do it, but most developers will think that someone else has certainly crossed this bridge before. The answer to the question of where to find the additional code you need is third-party libraries. One of the most popular C++ libraries is Boost, which is the topic of this chapter and the next.

Two book chapters can't serve as a complete reference to an entire library — especially not a set of libraries the size of Boost. This chapter introduces you to Boost. It helps you understand why Boost may be helpful to your development efforts, shows you how to obtain and install Boost, demonstrates some Boost tools, and finally helps you create your first application using Boost. Chapter 4 picks up where this chapter leaves off and helps you use Boost to ...