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# Welcome to Boost.org!

The Boost web site provides free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries. The emphasis is on libraries which work well with the C++ Standard Library.

The Libraries.

The Download page gives download and installation information..

The Compiler Status page tells what library works with which compiler.

The People pages identify some of the developers who write the libraries and maintain the web site.

The FAQ answers questions we hope someone will bother to ask.

The Tracker lets you view and submit bug, support, and feature requests.

The Library Requirements and Guidelines and Library Submission Process pages provide basic information for library authors.

## Membership

If you are interested in Boost, please join our mailing list for discussions of both technical and site-related issues, and to participate in formal reviews of proposed libraries. Discussions can be received via email in summary or in full, or viewed online via a web browser. We use the YahooGroups list hosting service. Subscribe or unsubscribe by sending email to boost-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or boost-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com respectively, or go to the mailing list home page. Dave Abrahams, Beman Dawes, and Jens Maurer are the list moderators.

Boost also has a low-volume announce-only mailing list which announces upcoming formal reviews and software releases.

For mailing list members only, preliminary libraries under discussion are available from the YahooGroups Files section (formerly called the "vault").

Beman Dawes is the Boost webmaster; email him at beman@esva.net with any concerns you don't want to just post to the mailing list.

## Rationale

Boost was begun by members of the C++ standards committee Library Working Group to provide free peer-reviewed portable libraries to the C++ community. An additional objective is to establish "existing practice" and provide reference implementations so that the Boost libraries are suitable for eventual standardization. Indeed, the explicit intent is to propose many of these libraries for inclusion in the C++ Standard Library.

## Latest News

April 24, 2001 - Version 1.21.2

- Compatibility Library added: Help for non-conforming standard libraries missing CXX headers from Ralf Grosse-Kunstleve, and help for missing standard library <limits> header from Jens Maurer. (These are unreviewed implementation libraries, treated as maintenance steps only.)
- Random Number Library: Split into separate headers, updated documentation, added lagged_fibonacci generator.
- Integer Library: Minor portability update.
- Graph Library: Changed algorithm interfaces to use named parameters technique. Added graph isomorphism algorithm.
- Download refinements - files now available from either FTP or web server.
- Tracker Added: View and submit bug, support, and feature requests.
- Minor portability fixes in several other libraries.

March 14, 2001 - Version 1.21.1

- New download page. The .zip and .tar.gz files now live on the SourceForge ftp site.
- Graph Library: Minor docs fixes.
- Python Library: Minor docs fixes.
- Regex Library: Minor portability fixes.

March 9, 2001 - Version 1.21.0

- Iterator Adaptor Library added. Adapt a base type into a standard conforming iterator, and more, from Dave Abrahams, Jeremy Siek, and John Potter.
- Pool Library added. Memory pool management from Steve Cleary.
- Test Library added. Support for program testing and execution from Beman Dawes.
- Generic Programming Techniques page added, contributed by Dave Abrahams.
- Graph Library: Updated use of iterator adaptors. Changed `operator==` for `adjacency_list::edge_descriptor` to improve semantics for multigraphs. Moved `adjacency_iterator_generator` from namespace `detail` to `boost` and added documentation. Renamed `dynamic_components()` to `incremental_components()``,` better matching graph literature terminology. Cleaned up interface of `connected_components()` and created separate `strong_components()` function using Tarjan's more efficient algorithm. Fixed documentation figures for `adjacency_list` and `adjacency_matrix`. Added docs for `cuthill_mckee_ordering()` algorithm.
- Python Library upgraded. Better compatibility with Python 2.0, NULL pointers and smart-pointers get converted to/from python None, massive documentation review/revision.
- Regular Expression Library: Minor fixes for Unicode platforms.
- Type Traits Library upgraded: Major revision.

February 10, 2001 - Version 1.20.2

- Array traits minor portability fix.
- Graph Library - Changes to `breadth_first_search()` re: BFSVisitor, added max flow algorithms `edmunds_karp_max_flow()` and `push_relabel_max_flow()`, added `adjacency_matrix` graph class, added `filtered_graph` adaptor
- Integer Library: minor fixes to integer.hpp and integer_test.cpp
- Portability Hints: Microsoft Visual C++ added.
- Random Number Library: Minor portability fixes
- Rational Number Library: documentation updates, efficiency improvements, co-operates with user-defined types, regression tests
- Regular Expression Library minor updates.
- Smart Pointer Library: shared_ptr example added..
- Timer Library: changed to an all inline implementation.

January 10, 2001 - Version 1.20.1

- compressed_pair.hpp minor update fixes test failures of other libraries under VC++.
- Graph Library minor updates.
- Regular Expression Library minor updates.
- Minor website fixes including missing files in boost_all.zip.

January 6, 2001 - Version 1.20.0

- Conversion Library added - cast and lexical_cast headers from Dave Abrahams and Kevlin Henney.
- Web site moved to a larger host after the old ISP collapsed unexpectedly.
- Regression tests now include execution testing. See Compiler Status.
- Discussion Policy page added.
- Array Library minor documentation improvements.
- Graph Library minor updates.
- Regular Expression Library minor updates.

December 10, 2000 - Version 1.19.0

- Concept Check Library added - tools for generic programming from Jeremy Siek.
- Python Library added - reflects C++ classes and functions into Python, from Dave Abrahams.
- Static Assert Library added - compile time assertions from John Maddock
- Property Map Concepts added - interfaces which map key objects to value objects from Jeremy Siek.
- Graph Library minor updates.
- Regular Expression Library minor updates.
- Library Requirements and Guidelines - directory name policy added.
- FAQ updated.

Revised 25 April 2001