Re: [Boost-users] Getting started with Boost: what did you need to know?
Main stumbling point for me was bjam. It's not so much of a problem for building the libraries themselves--you don't need to know anything about it at all, really. But when you start building your own extensions, it would be helpful to have a dozen or so examples of really basic operations, like changing the destination directory, defining a preprocessor macro on the compiler command line, stuff like that. I have to say, I'm almost embarrassed to be writing this, because it seems like nobody on this list ever complains about bjam. So maybe it's just me. But to me, bjam is an incomprehensible monster, a big YALITTC (yet-another-link-in-the-tool-chain) that just makes it harder to sell boost within an organization. Michael D.
"Drumheller, Michael" <michael.drumheller@boeing.com> writes:
Main stumbling point for me was bjam. It's not so much of a problem for building the libraries themselves--you don't need to know anything about it at all, really. But when you start building your own extensions, it would be helpful to have a dozen or so examples of really basic operations, like changing the destination directory, defining a preprocessor macro on the compiler command line, stuff like that.
I have to say, I'm almost embarrassed to be writing this, because it seems like nobody on this list ever complains about bjam. So maybe it's just me. But to me, bjam is an incomprehensible monster, a big YALITTC (yet-another-link-in-the-tool-chain) that just makes it harder to sell boost within an organization.
It's not just you. We need to make Boost.Build more comprehensible and easier to use. If nobody else steps up I'm probably going to end up rewriting all the documentation once we officially switch to Boost.Build version 2. -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting www.boost-consulting.com
Drumheller, Michael wrote:
Main stumbling point for me was bjam. It's not so much of a problem for building the libraries themselves--you don't need to know anything about it at all, really. But when you start building your own extensions, it would be helpful to have a dozen or so examples of really basic operations, like changing the destination directory, defining a preprocessor macro on the compiler command line, stuff like that.
I have to say, I'm almost embarrassed to be writing this, because it seems like nobody on this list ever complains about bjam. So maybe it's just me. But to me, bjam is an incomprehensible monster, a big YALITTC (yet-another-link-in-the-tool-chain) that just makes it harder to sell boost within an organization.
Perhaps people don't complain because most only use bjam it to build the libraries (archives and shared objects) and then (like me) they use 'make' to build the projects that incorporate Boost. I would guess that you are in the minority if you write in-house extensions to the Boost library. Having said that, I can appreciate that bjam is a *very* powerful tool and has many advantages over make, but I just can't find the time to study the docs enough to make a trial switch. Jim
participants (3)
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David Abrahams -
Drumheller, Michael -
Jim Douglas