1.9. Future of C++: Open Source Boost Libraries, TR1 and C++0x

Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++, has expressed his vision for the future of C++. The main goals for the new standard are to make C++ easier to learn, improve library building capabilities, and increase compatibility with the C programming language.

Chapter 21 considers the future of C++—we introduce the Boost C++ Libraries, Technical Report 1 (TR1) and C++0x. The Boost C++ Libraries are free, open source libraries created by members of the C++ community. Boost has grown to over 70 libraries, with more being added regularly. Today there are thousands of programmers in the Boost open source community. Boost provides C++ programmers with useful, well-designed libraries that work well with the existing C++ Standard Library. The Boost libraries can be used by C++ programmers working on a wide variety of platforms with many different compilers. We overview the libraries included in TR1 and provide code examples for the "regular expression" and "smart pointer" libraries.

Regular expressions are used to match specific character patterns in text. They can be used to validate data to ensure that it is in a particular format, to replace parts of one string with another, or to split a string.

Many common bugs in C and C++ code are related to pointers, which we present in Chapter 8, Pointers and Pointer-Based Strings. Smart pointers help you avoid errors by providing additional functionality to standard pointers. This functionality typically strengthens the process of memory allocation and deallocation.

Technical Report 1 describes the proposed changes to the C++ Standard Library, many of which are based on current Boost libraries. These libraries add useful functionality to C++. The C++ Standards Committee is currently revising the C++ Standard. The last standard was published in 1998. Work on the new standard, currently referred to as C++0x, began in 2003. The new standard is likely to be released in 2009. It will include changes to the core language and, most likely, many of the libraries in TR1.