Guidelines to using Libraries

[utab]

Dear all,

I want to be able to use C++ libraries(maybe this is too abstract). Is
there a source or tutorial giving the general details on the use of C++
libraries. (Sth like, to use all C++ libraries you have to complete
these common steps and make the following configurations according to
your OS.)

I am looking for a step-by-step introduction to library usage. I also
checked out the boost web page which seemed to me a bit confusing.

Your help is very much appreciated.

Regards,

[Alf P. Steinbach]

* utab:

Dear all,

I want to be able to use C++ libraries(maybe this is too abstract). Is
there a source or tutorial giving the general details on the use of C++
libraries. (Sth like, to use all C++ libraries you have to complete
these common steps and make the following configurations according to
your OS.)

I am looking for a step-by-step introduction to library usage. I also
checked out the boost web page which seemed to me a bit confusing.

Your help is very much appreciated.

You may find the following useful, even though it's written for Windows
and you're on Linux (sadly, library usage in C++ is system dependent):

<url: http://home.no.net/dubjai/win32cpptut/html/w32cpptut_01.html>
chapter 1.5.

To read it on Linux you can use e.g. Open Office, which is free.

--
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is it such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

[mlimber]

utab wrote:

Dear all,

I want to be able to use C++ libraries(maybe this is too abstract). Is
there a source or tutorial giving the general details on the use of C++
libraries. (Sth like, to use all C++ libraries you have to complete
these common steps and make the following configurations according to
your OS.)

I am looking for a step-by-step introduction to library usage. I also
checked out the boost web page which seemed to me a bit confusing.

Your help is very much appreciated.

Regards,

Well, some libraries will be entirely contained in header files, so all
you have to do is #include the right ones. Others will have file(s) to
be statically or dynamically linked in as well, but the procedures for
linking do not concern the C++ language so much as your particular
development environment (Visual Studio, Eclipse, text editor +
Makefile, etc.). So you should ask about that on the most appropriate
forum, which is not this one.

As for Boost, follow their instructions
(http://boost.org/more/getting_started.html). If you have trouble, ask
for help on the Boost user's list
(http://boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#users) since the details of
configuring and installing Boost for particular environments are also
off-topic here, methinks.

Cheers! --M

[utab]

Boost was only an example of my discussion. So For example to use the
standard library, we include the necessary header files and using
directives and g++(since I am on linux) links the library automatically
and the executable is created.

My question was on the general compilation and linkage steps of a
library since I have never used such.

Regards,

[mlimber]

utab wrote:

Boost was only an example of my discussion. [ ... ] My question was on the general compilation and linkage steps of a
library since I have never used such.

But my comments apply to all non-standard libraries: seek help in a
more appropriate group or from the library vendor directly since this
forum is concerned with the standard C++ language and libraries, not
configuring a particular development environment or writing a Makefile.
See the FAQ for what is on-topic here and for a list of other possible
newsgroups you could try:

http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lit...t.html#faq-5.9

Cheers! --M

PS, Please quote the message you are responding to. It makes it easier
for all to follow the conversation. (From Google Groups, click "show
options" and then "Reply" in the revealed header to automatically quote
messages.)