-----Original Message----- From: boost-users-bounces@lists.boost.org [mailto:boost-users-bounces@lists.boost.org] On Behalf Of Steve Toledo-Brown Sent: 21 September 2007 11:01 To: boost-users@lists.boost.org Subject: Re: [Boost-users] A need for a COOKBOOK
Hughes, James wrote:
All very well asking, but writing a book is a very time consuming and difficult task, then you have to get it published, otherwise you have spent a year of your life with no income (or two years of your spare time - and who has that any more). I'm amazed that the current docs are even as good as they are.....but would agree that there is a lack of consistency which I believe the boost:docs projects is aiming to fix. Whether it will is anyone's guess.
James
The "writing a book is a very time consuming" problem is to some extent mitigated in the cookbook model, which Dhruva didn't really explain fully. There's a website to which any user can submit recipes - typically a code sample illustrating a useful technique using some aspect of the technology in question for a specific purpose, with a brief discussion. Some recipes are idioms, some are more like mini-patterns. Over time hundreds of these recipes build up on the website. Deriving a book means collecting a sample of the best/most widely applicable recipes by a distributed effort. Typically you'd have one reviewer per area/chapter/theme who'd choose recipes and write a brief overview discussion. There's still obviously a significant editorial effort involved, but it's not really like writing a book.
That's sounds like a good idea. I always prefer examples to raw/technical explanation - I find things so much easier to understand that way (I refer you to the Boost::filesystem TR1 Documentation, very difficult to understand without examples, where everything becomes instantly clear!!). Is this 'cookbook' idea currently in use for Boost?? James This message (including any attachments) contains confidential and/or proprietary information intended only for the addressee. Any unauthorized disclosure, copying, distribution or reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may constitute a violation of law. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by responding to this e-mail, and delete the message from your system. If you have any questions about this e-mail please notify the sender immediately.