The Boost.org Steering Committee has made public news of its Boost Library Incubator website this month. Boost provides free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries.
As Dr. Dobb's readers will know, Boost libraries are intended to be widely useful, and usable across a broad spectrum of applications and the Boost license encourages both commercial and non-commercial use.
The resource was conceived, designed, and implemented to try to alleviate the "log-jam" of libraries waiting to be reviewed by Boost.
The goal of this website is to help C++ programmers produce C++ code libraries as good as those libraries accepted into Boost.
It helps new library submitters through the process, encourages development of an initial user base, and accumulates feedback in the form of comments, test results, and Boost style reviews.
The Boost Steering Committee has voted to recommend using the Boost Library Incubator as a prelude to getting a library reviewed by Boost. The Steering Committee recommends libraries currently in the Boost review queue be added to the Incubator by their developers.
According to a steering committee statement, "The relationship between Boost and the Incubator is purely informal, but there as several things Boosters can do to help make the Incubator a success. Authors can submit their libraries and respond to feedback. Users can experiment with submitted libraries and provide feedback on their experience. WordPress/PHP developers can contribute enhancements to the Boost Library Incubator implementation."
The steering committee has extended its thanks to Robert Ramey for launching the Boost Library Incubator.