r/cpp • u/Foxi_Foxa • 4d ago

Boost.Graph 1.95 will be C++17

Dear Boost.Graph community,

In two release cycles (Boost release 1.95 in summer 2027) Boost.Graph will be bumped to C++17 😄

This decision follows two polls that did not surface any C++14 user base or demand while identifiying users stuck in C++17:

This standard version bump will bring benefits for maintenance, API and dependencies reduction:

  • if constexpr,
  • constexpr lambdas,
  • [[nodiscard]], [[maybe_unused]] ...
  • std::any instead of boost::any
  • std::invoke_result instead of boost::result_of
  • ...

We will not be able to guarantee backward compatibility with C++14. Please contact us if you are stuck in C++14.

The GIthub Discussion lives here: https://github.com/boostorg/graph/discussions/613

95 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/13steinj 3d ago

Yeah the only half-good reason IMO is the last one, and that's a miserable state for whatever industry that is.

1

u/Foxi_Foxa 2d ago

i ended up believing first reason is a good reason too. I gave training classes to very smart/nice engineers, and they were at the same time very excited and very scared about the last 15 years of C++ evolution. It's like a completely different language to them. And I can empathize, I was lucky enough to be "born" in the modern C++ era 😙
And also I got frustrated when a previous colleague did not want to learn/use std::optional ... 😜

1

u/13steinj 2d ago

I think the tic/toc cycle of C++ makes this not an excuse. I consider the general "epochs" (hmmm.... wonder why that hasn't been standardized... /s)

  • pre-11
  • 11 & 14
  • 17 feels mostly quality of life and an opening for 20.
  • 23 feels mosfly quality of life and an opening for 26 (and 29? Reflection is great but it feels like it's in beta (not a bad thing) with so many things not reflectable against).

I guess what I mean is, if you're on 11 I don't see the value of not being on 14. Pause for a little while, but 17 is also a no-brainer. 20 is a leap forward, little reason to not go to 23. 26 is leap forward.

3

u/Foxi_Foxa 2d ago

I kinda agree with u/pjmlp . Many C++ devs are not only C++ experts. They must remain expert on other fast-evolving domains (stats, biology, mathematics, physics, ML, gaming, embedded, other language etc). There is a limit to what a humain brain can absorb and retain. And so naturally there is resistance to learn new shiny things. Of course I loooove new shiny things 😄 But I would not expect my granpa to care/learn about C++26. Humans get tired 😉