Boost Libraries

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What Does Boost Libraries Mean?

Boost libraries consist of a
set of over 80 libraries for the C++ programming language. The libraries
are available for free and can be used for both free and proprietary software
projects. Boost supports a number of tasks and structures such as unit testing,
image processing, multithreading, pseudorandom number generation, linear
algebra and regular expressions.

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Techopedia Explains Boost Libraries

Boost provides a number of advantages:

  • The libraries are free for use in all applications.
  • The libraries are peer-reviewed and no library is passed before it goes through a comprehensive list of test suites.
  • It provides a wide number of functionalities that are platform-independent.
  • The features of the libraries are not interdependent, which allows the features to be used in software applications independently.
  • The libraries are credible because many Boost developers are on the C++ standards committee.

Some of the important libraries in Boost are:

  • any – A safe and generic container for value types
  • bind and mem_fn – Generalized binders for member functions and function/object/pointers
  • call_traits – Defines types for the passing of parameters
  • concept check – Provides generic tools for programming purpose

The unique selling point of Boost is that it provides ready-made libraries for specific purposes. To build a software application, all the developer needs to do is to pick out the right library and use it, with no need to develop code from scratch.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.