Martin Bonner <martin.bonner@pitechnology.com> writes:
----Original Message---- From: David Abrahams [mailto:dave@boost-consulting.com] Sent: 16 August 2005 14:19 To: boost@lists.boost.org Subject: Re: [boost] boost dll versions
While the breadth of support has helped boost gain wide acceptance, it is also the single biggest fault of the library as well.
?? Breadth of support has many benefits and only a few costs, and most of those fall on the library maintainers. Library users (ahem, like you) might pay for a slight reduction in velocity, but that's all.
No, there are two further costs that library users pay: a) Features that are not implemented because they are too hard on older compilers. b) Features that use a less convenient syntax because supporting the more convenient syntax is too hard on older compilers.
Those things don't generally happen, because we have an unwritten policy of coding for the ideal and asking users to jump through a few extra hoops when using a substandard compiler. See, for example, http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl/doc/tutorial/incomplete-support-for.html
c) Features that are not implemented because the library maintainer has spent her limited time on maintaining support for older compilers.
That's velocity. -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting www.boost-consulting.com