Question

I have just downloaded the boost libraries from the boost website and extracted them to my desktop. I was hoping to just have a quick look at them and have them installed on my machine and perhaps use them in the future when I am more accustomed to C++.

When I extracted it, I was confused with all of the extracted files. There is all of the headers in the boost directory but tutorials mention running bootstrap.bat (I’m using Windows).

So I am asking this: do I simply extract the headers to my compilers include directory like normal to get boost up and running or do I need to do something else?

As I understand it from searching about, apparently “most” of boost is just templates and can be used simply by including the headers, but what about the rest?

Am I totally barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks for any help

Answer 1

Just add the root boost directory to include paths of your compiler/IDE (so if you have Boost extracted to C:\Boost, the compiler will use that path, not C:\Boost\boost).

Don’t do any copying of the boost folder to your compiler’s include directory, because it may make upgrading Boost harder in the future.

Also if you plan to use any of boost’s compiled libraries, add Boost’s lib directory to compiler’s library search paths. Configuring the compiling step is a matter of putting the right toolset parameter to boost’s build tool. If you have your command line environment configured properly, bootstrap should run and compile the builder without any problems, and the Boost builder should properly detect your toolset, so no parameters will be necessary.

As you do such configuration only once every time you do a clean install of your favorite compiler, it’s not as hard or daunting as it seems.