Introduction to the Boost C++ Libraries; Volume I - Foundations

C++ is one of the most important and influential programming languages for application development. It supports the modular, object- oriented and generic programming models and its flexibility has been one of the main reasons why it has been so successful. With the emergence of the Boost Libraries (boost.org) we see that C++ is brought to a new level, namely a set of reusable and modular template libraries that C++ developers can use in their applications.

This book is dedicated to a number of Boost libraries for higher-order functions, data types and data structures, libraries for text and string processing, multi-threading, random number generation and more. We also discuss how Boost and design patterns are used to promote the flexibility of code. Each library is described in a step-by-step manner. Numerous examples are given to show the functionality of each library. The full source code is freely available to purchasers of the book.

Coverage Includes

• Understanding and using 30 major Boost libraries.
• Learn about higher-order functions, data structures, memory management, multi-threading and more.
• Using Boost in new and existing applications.
• Integrating Boost and the Gang-Of-Four design patterns.
• Ready-to-run projects for Visual Studio.
• Appendices and exercises.

Chapters:

1. Modelling Functions
2. Bind
3. Event Notification, Observer Pattern and Signals Library
4. Phoenix
5. Smart Pointers and Serialisation
6. Tuple
7. Any
8. Variant
9. Number Systems
10. String Algorithm
11. Tokenizer
12. Regex
13. An Introduction to Expression Templates and Xpressive
14. MultiArray and Array
15. Random Number Generation
16. Flyweight and Functional/Hash
17. Integrating Legacy Applications with Boost
18. An Introduction to Thread
19. Appendix A: Generic Programming
20. Appendix B: Boost, Design Patterns and Applications
21. Appendix C: Exercises and Projects

Robert Demming is software designer, developer and trainer and he has been involved with software projects in the areas of optical technology, process control, CAD and order processing systems since 1993. He has a BSc degree in technical computer science from Amsterdam Hogeschool.

Daniel J. Duffy is founder of Datasim Education BV and has been working with C++ and its applications since 1989 and with software development since 1979. He is designer, algorithm builder and trainer. He has a PhD in numerical analysis from Trinity College, Dublin. One of the projects that he is involved in is applying the Boost libraries to computational finance.