RE: A C++ util library (Was: hey nice job...)

["Shiv Shankar Ramakrishnan" <Shiv@pspl.co.in>]

|Interesting reading.
|
|One thing I've been thinking for a while: is there a "market" for an
|Open Source'd C++ utility library that goes beyond the C++ standard
|library?

There is definitely a need for it. After I first came across the
Std C++ libs, the feeling I had was : hey thats really cool this is what
has been sorely missing all along. Now take a look at Python. I immedia-
tely fell in love with it after seeing its highly intuitive and usable
data structures plus the loads and loads of modules(libs) that you have
to do almost anything. Taking a look at the Std C++ containers I said
now thats nice for we have the ease and power of these data structures
in C++ also! But alas C++ does not have anywhere near the kind of libs
that Python has for other things. Of course this is a lot of work and it
is a lot easier said than done for a mainstream language like C++.

But on the other hand take a look at Java. I strongly suspect that a lot
of Java being used today is primarily due to the large no of libs avl in
it to do things, rather than on the technical merits of the language per
se! And please don't take that to be a flame ;-)

I think there is a good case for some beginnings to be made for an
open source general util C++ libs based on the Std C++ framework. And
if I remember correctly that was one of the design goals of Std C++
libs (i.e to be a framework for further libs)?

A start could be made and people could slowly keep contributing to it and
enhancing it. Just take a look at what a wonderfull job the python
community has done (http://www.python.org) with such a model. In fact
I am surprised that the C++ community hasn't something like that in
place now that the STD is out. Okay I do know of www.boost.org but thats
not much.

|Basically it would start up as a collection of utilities like the
|string function and class shown in the above URL.  It would then go
|further with a good C++ framework for network programming.
|
|Sort of what the ObjectSpace C++ libraries do, but in Open Source form
|and usable for free software.

I am all for something like this. But we need to have a very vibrant
contributing community in place for something like this to succeed.

|Of course, there's always ACE
|        http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/ACE.html
|which I've looked at, but never tried...

This could collect the best of such libs like for example the really
good wxWindows C++ GUI classes for GUI etc etc and add ons etc and have
a really good collecttion of C++ libs.

|Just a thought!

A very valid one at that! And here's to hoping something comes out of
it :-)
Thanks,
Shiv