Boost C++ Application Development Cookbook

by Antony Polukhin

This book follows a cookbook approach, with detailed and practical recipes that use Boost libraries. This book is great for developers new to Boost, and who are looking to improve their knowledge of Boost and see some undocumented details or tricks. It's assumed that you will have some experience in C++ already, as well being familiar with the basics of STL. A few chapters will require some previous knowledge of multi-threading and networking. You are expected to have at least one good C++ compiler and compiled version of Boost (1.53.0 or later is recommended), which will be used during the exercises within this book.

Genres: Programming

348 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Julian Onions]

Covers boost in some basic level of detail, but none of it in real depth. A lot of the chapters end with "... and this is now in C++11 or C++17" so probably better to spend time looking at the C++17 language instead for many of these cases. Useful if you are stuck in preC++11 times, but otherwise there are probably better books for the more modern era. The book is pretty well written, but occasional grammar slips which indicate a non-native speaker, which disrupt the flow here and there. Nothing major but just smoothing a few of those out would help.

[Anton Bikineev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I have just read this book! I took it from here.
I think it is one of the best books on C++ that I have read. It would be perfect for new developers to move from theory to practice. I’m also sure the book will be helpful for more experienced developers. Everyone can find plenty of new helpful recipes in it.
The book shows the best aspects of an extensive Boost library’s components. By giving problems and their solutions the author reveals the options of Boost sublibraries and tools.
The book is well-organized, which makes it easy for developers to read. It consist of 12 chapters, each chapter consists of recipes, which divide into following sections “getting ready”,” how to do it”, “how it works”,” there is more”, “see also”. The “getting ready” section lists the required knowledge level, references to other recipes, dependencies, the way the library is supplied: as a separated static/shared module(.a/.so) or just header-only. The “how to do” section contains well-selected examples. It’s noteworthy that “how it works” briefly describes the basic issues of work and implementation details of given tool or feature The title of “there is more” section speaks for itself. The author also highlights the features of C++11. The “see also” section has links to documentations and various aspects of C++/stl. All recipes are relatively irrespective, so you can start reading from any page or use the book as a guide.
The book covers a variety of practical issues which are not implemented in the standart C++03 library (and also in C++11 library), from metaprograming and compile-time tricks, to working with operating system and networking. Many things such as Boost.Move and Boost.Thread have already been added in C++11. But there are still issues like code portability using Boost for compilers that only support C++03 , or not fully implemented in C++11. Once you read this book, your code will be more secure and portable, and the possibility of memory leaks will be reduced. Many problems that you had to solve manually can now be solved by using Boost. For instance we can look at parsers from Boost.Spirit: you may no longer worry about developing them manually, whether it’s LL-parser or recursive-descent parser. The best part is that there are 95 examples in the book. Moreover, once you’ve learn about various compile-time tricks, you’ll be more confident with reading Boost sources.
All in all, C++ programming will become easier and more enjoyable.

[Sinu John · Rating 5 out of 5]

All those who want to use C++ in production will one day or other come across Boost Library. Being a coder who doesn't use C++ as a primary language, but who wish to keep abreast of whats happening in the industry (and C++ is still not dead!), I always wanted to learn Boost. I had in fact downloaded boost about an year back, but haven't used it much. A good tutorial was missing. And this cookbook definitely fills the void. It is not a beginners book who want to study C++. But its definitely an introduction to Boost. The author has made the cookbook way to give a very good introduction to Boost library.
What I liked: It is straight to the point. A no-nonsense book.
Boost is a large library and some of the it have been added in C++11. And some it is being said to be part of C++14. This itself tells that Boost is a library which every C++ programmer should be familiar of. And this cookbook is really a starting point to learning it. I should say that it is only the tip of the ice-berg, but it should make you capable of digging deep into the ice-berg

[Paul Floyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly based on short examples with brief explanations. The were a few items I didn't know about (or had forgotten). Not sure that this will be the first book I reach for if I'm using Boost.