I found this boost::format wrapper to be very convenient as replacement of sprintf. Can something like that be a part of the library? #include <boost/format.hpp> #include <string> #include <iostream> using namespace std; using namespace boost; format& my_format(format& fmter) { return fmter; } template <typename T, typename... Args> format& my_format(format& fmter, T value, Args... args) { fmter % value; return my_format(fmter, args...); } string my_format(string fmt) { format fmter(fmt); return my_format(fmter).str(); } template <typename... Args> string my_format(string fmt, Args... args) { format fmter(fmt); return my_format(fmter, args...).str(); } int main() { cout << my_format("%s %.6f", "pi", 3.14159) << endl; return 0; } -Alexey