Beyond the C++ Standard Library: An Introduction to Boost
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Introducing the Boost libraries: the next breakthrough in C++ programming
Boost takes you far beyond the C++ Standard Library, making C++ programming more elegant, robust, and productive. Now, for the first time, a leading Boost contributor systematically introduces the Boost libraries and teaches best practices for their use.
Writing for intermediate-to-advanced C++ developers, Björn Karlsson briefly outlines all 58 Boost libraries, and then presents comprehensive coverage of the 12 libraries you're likely to find most useful. Karlsson's topics range from smart pointers and conversions to containers and data structures, explaining exactly how using each library can improve your code. He offers detailed coverage of higher-order function objects that enable you to write code that's more concise, expressive, and readable. He even takes you 'behind the scenes' with Boost, revealing tools and techniques for creating your own generic libraries.
Coverage includes
Smart pointers that provide automatic lifetime management of objects and simplify resource sharing
Consistent, best-practice solutions for implementing type and lexical conversions
Utility class and function templates that make programming simpler and clearer
Flexible container libraries that solve common problems ignored by the standard library
Boost. Bind and Boost. Lambda: controlling the proliferation of small function objects
Boost. Function: replacing callbacks with a more flexible approach
Boost. Signals: a managed signals and slots system that implements the Gang of Four's Observerpattern
The Boost Libraries are proving so useful that many of them are planned for inclusion in the next version of the C++ Standard Library. Get your head start now, with Beyond the C++ Standard Library
