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<title>Boost FAQ</title>
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<div class="section" id="intro">
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<div class="section-0">
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<div class="section-title">
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<h1>Boost FAQ</h1>
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</div>
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<div class="section-body">
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">How do I download the
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libraries?</span> See the <a href="download">downloads</a>.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">What do the Boost
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version numbers mean?</span> The scheme is x.y.z, where x is
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incremented only for massive changes, such as a reorganization
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of many libraries, y is incremented whenever a new library is
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added, and z is incremented for maintenance releases. y and z
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are reset to 0 if the value to the left changes.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Is there any
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assurance libraries actually work as claimed?</span> No. The
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review process will hopefully eliminate the most seriously
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flawed libraries, but a well constructed library with hidden
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defects is likely to slip through. Encouraging ordinary users
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to report their experience with a library is intended to
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address such concerns. Consult the <a href=
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"../development/testing.html">test results</a> for an
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indication of how well a library works on specific
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platforms.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">How can the Boost
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libraries be used successfully for important projects?</span>
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Many of the Boost libraries are actively maintained and
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improved, so backward compatibility with prior version isn't
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always possible. Deal with this by freezing the version of the
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Boost libraries used by your project. Only upgrade at points in
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your project's life cycle where a bit of change will not cause
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problems. Individual bug fixes can always be obtained from the
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boost repository.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">How can I contribute
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to development?</span> To participate in development, you need
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to subscribe to the <a href=
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"https://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost">Boost
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developers' list</a>. Once you've done that, some paths to
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contribution are:</p>
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<ol class="faq">
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<li>Submit patches for new features or bug fixes. Pick any
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ticket from <a href="https://github.com/boostorg/">our bug
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tracking system</a> on GitHub and get started. If existing
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library maintainers don't already know your work, this is
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a good way to become known as someone they can trust to
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do good work.</li>
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<li>Become part of a particular library's community, and
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become known to the library maintainer(s) by participating in
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design discussions (some libraries, e.g. Spirit, have their
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<a href="/community/groups.html#projects">own mailing
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lists</a> where you'd do that).</li>
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<li>Come up with a library idea of your own and begin the
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<a href="/development/submissions.html">library submission
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process</a>.</li>
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</ol>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">How is a library
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accepted for posting on the site?</span> See <a href=
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"/development/submissions.html">Library Submission
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Process</a></p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">How does someone
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submit a Formal Review comment?</span> Send email to <a href=
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"mailto:boost@lists.boost.org">boost@lists.boost.org</a>. See
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the <a href="/community/reviews.html">Formal Review</a> page
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for more information.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">How does someone
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submit a library?</span> See <a href=
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"/development/requirements.html">Library Guidelines</a></p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Are commercial
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libraries requiring a fee acceptable?</span> No. However, a
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library that a commercial enterprise makes available without
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fee is acceptable. If the description of the library makes a
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low-key plug for the supplier, that is acceptable as long as
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the library delivers real value and isn't just a Trojan horse
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for the plug.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Are shareware
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libraries acceptable?</span> No. Only free libraries will be
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accepted.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Are open source
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license libraries acceptable?</span> Some are, many are not.
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Open source licenses often require redistribution or
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availability of source code, inclusion of license document with
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machine-executable redistribution, give the initial developer
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rights to licensee modifications, or need a lawyer to
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understand. Boost aims to
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avoid subjecting users to hard-to-comply-with license terms.
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See <a href="/development/requirements.html#License">License
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requirements</a>.</p>
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<p class="faq">This is subject to review for a particularly
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important piece of software, or as the industry changes.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Must full source code
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be provided?</span> Yes, these are source code libraries.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">What about
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documentation?</span> A very simple library might be accepted
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with only a well commented header file. For more substantial
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libraries, some form of documentation is certainly going to be
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expected. HTML is the preferred form.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Are platform specific
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libraries acceptable?</span> There is a preference for portable
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libraries. Libraries will be accepted that have portable
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interfaces but require platform specific implementations, as
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long as the author supplies implementations for a couple of
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disparate major operating systems.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Must a library do
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useful work?</span> No. A library meant as a teaching example
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or demonstration might not actually do any work.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Can an existing
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library be accepted by Boost?</span> Yes, although it would
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have to be "Boostified" to meet the requirements. The
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Boost Graph and Regex libraries are examples of libraries which
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began life elsewhere.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Who owns the
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libraries?</span> Presumably many authors will copyright their
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libraries. Others authors may wish to place their libraries in
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the public domain. The Boost.org policy is to only accept
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libraries with a clear copyright notice and meeting the
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<a href="/development/requirements.html#License">License
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requirements</a>. It is up to potential users to decide if the
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terms acceptable, and not to use libraries with unacceptable
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copyrights or licenses.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Is there a formal
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relationship between Boost.org and the C++ Standards
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Committee?</span> No, although there is a strong informal
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relationship in that many members of the committee participate
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in Boost, and the people who started Boost were all committee
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members.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Will the Boost.org
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libraries become part of the next C++ Standard?</span> Some
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might, someday, but that is up to the standards committee.
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Committee members who also participate in Boost will definitely
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be proposing at least some Boost libraries for
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standardization.</p>
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<p class="faq">Libraries which are "existing practice" are most
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likely to be accepted by the C++ committee for future
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standardization. Having a library accepted by Boost is one way
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to establish existing practice.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Where does the name
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"Boost" come from?</span> Boost began with Robert Klarer and I
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fantasizing about a new library effort over dinner at a C++
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committee meeting in Sofia Antipolis, France, in 1998. Robert
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mentioned that Herb Sutter was working on a spoof proposal for
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a new language named Booze, which was supposed to be better
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than Java. Somehow that kicked off the idea of "Boost" as a
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name. We'd probably had a couple of glasses of good French wine
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at that point. It was just a working name, but no one ever came
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up with a replacement. (Beman Dawes)</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Is the web site a
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commercial business?</span> No. The Boost Foundation is
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incorporated as a nonprofit corporation, with a pending
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application for 503(c)(3) tax exempt status.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Is there any charge
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for submitting libraries or reviews to Boost.org?</span> No.
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Unlike the standards committees, you don't have to pay to
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volunteer!</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Will the site include
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material beyond libraries?</span> The main focus is on
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libraries, but if people contribute occasional articles or
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other material to make the site more interesting, that could be
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a nice fit.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Why isn't there a
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separate boost mailing list for my favorite library?</span> One
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of the reasons for boost's success has been the
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cross-pollination of ideas between diverse library projects and
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the occasional look into other threads by otherwise
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uninterested parties. The more people participate, the less
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they tend to be annoyed by "noise".</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">How can I cope with
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the large volume of boost mailing list messages?</span> One
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approach is to use the "digest" option; that cuts the email
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blizzard down to several (long) messages per day, so you can
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glance over the subjects summary at the top and quickly read
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what you think is important. The "no mail" option turns off
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list email entirely.</p>
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<p class="faq">Another approach is to follow the list traffic
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via an NTTP newsgroup reader. See <a href=
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"/community/groups.html#newsgroup">Mailing List</a> newsgroup
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information.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Why do Boost headers
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have a .hpp suffix rather than .h or none at all?</span> File
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extensions communicate the "type" of the file, both to humans
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and to computer programs. The '.h' extension is used for C
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header files, and therefore communicates the wrong thing about
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C++ header files. Using no extension communicates nothing and
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forces inspection of file contents to determine type. Using
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'.hpp' unambiguously identifies it as C++ header file, and
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works well in actual practice. (Rainer Deyke)</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">What should I do if I
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spot a bug in the Boost code or documentation?</span> See the
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suggestions on the <a href="/development/bugs.html">Bugs
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page</a>.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">How can I request a
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new feature in a Boost Library?</span> See the <a href=
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"/community/requests.html">Requesting New Features</a>
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page.</p>
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<p class="faq"><span class="faq-question">Who's idea was
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Boost?</span> See the <a href="proposal.pdf">original
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proposal</a> (PDF).</p>
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</div>
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<p>Revised $Date$</p>
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<p>Copyright Beman Dawes 2001.</p>
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