Re: [Boost-users] Boost Program Options: Just curiosity, why double dashes ?

Mauricio Gomes wrote:

I am studying Boost Program Options library and I am curious, why was it choosen double dashes as the token to identify an option in the command line ?

Example: my_program --help

Would not a single dash be enough and less verbose ? What is the rationale behind that ?

Actually, it's the default style. See cmdline.hpp for a wide array of tweaks you can apply. The default style, actually, is the Unix style. It seems reasonable to borrow the default style from an operating system family that is known for fairly developed tradition of command line usage. - Volodya