<s>
Boost	B-Language
is	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
libraries	B-Library
for	O
the	O
C++	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
that	O
provides	O
support	O
for	O
tasks	O
and	O
structures	O
such	O
as	O
linear	B-Language
algebra	I-Language
,	O
pseudorandom	B-Algorithm
number	I-Algorithm
generation	I-Algorithm
,	O
multithreading	O
,	O
image	B-Algorithm
processing	I-Algorithm
,	O
regular	B-Language
expressions	I-Language
,	O
and	O
unit	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
contains	O
164	O
individual	O
libraries	B-Library
(	O
as	O
of	O
version	O
1.76	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
of	O
the	O
Boost	B-Language
libraries	I-Language
are	O
licensed	B-License
under	O
the	O
Boost	B-Language
Software	B-License
License	I-License
,	O
designed	O
to	O
allow	O
Boost	B-Language
to	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
both	O
free	B-Application
and	O
proprietary	B-Application
software	I-Application
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
Boost	B-Language
's	O
founders	O
are	O
on	O
the	O
C++	B-Language
standards	O
committee	O
,	O
and	O
several	O
Boost	B-Language
libraries	I-Language
have	O
been	O
accepted	O
for	O
incorporation	O
into	O
the	O
C++	B-Language
Technical	I-Language
Report	I-Language
1	I-Language
,	O
the	O
C++11	B-Language
standard	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
smart	B-Language
pointers	I-Language
,	O
thread	O
,	O
regex	B-Language
,	O
random	O
,	O
ratio	O
,	O
tuple	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
C++17	B-Language
standard	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Boost	B-Language
community	O
emerged	O
around	O
1998	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
standard	O
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
grown	O
continuously	O
since	O
then	O
and	O
now	O
plays	O
a	O
big	O
role	O
in	O
the	O
standardization	O
of	O
C++	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
though	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
formal	O
relationship	O
between	O
the	O
Boost	B-Language
community	O
and	O
the	O
standardization	O
committee	O
,	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
developers	O
are	O
active	O
in	O
both	O
groups	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
libraries	B-Library
are	O
aimed	O
at	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
C++	B-Language
users	O
and	O
application	O
domains	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
range	O
from	O
general-purpose	O
libraries	B-Library
like	O
the	O
smart	B-Language
pointer	I-Language
library	O
,	O
to	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
abstractions	O
like	O
Boost	B-Language
FileSystem	O
,	O
to	O
libraries	B-Library
primarily	O
aimed	O
at	O
other	O
library	O
developers	O
and	O
advanced	O
C++	B-Language
users	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
template	B-Language
metaprogramming	I-Language
(	O
MPL	O
)	O
and	O
domain-specific	B-Language
language	I-Language
(	O
DSL	O
)	O
creation	O
(	O
Proto	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
ensure	O
efficiency	O
and	O
flexibility	O
,	O
Boost	B-Language
makes	O
extensive	O
use	O
of	O
templates	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Boost	B-Language
has	O
been	O
a	O
source	O
of	O
extensive	O
work	O
and	O
research	O
into	O
generic	B-Language
programming	I-Language
and	O
metaprogramming	B-Application
in	O
C++	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Boost	B-Language
libraries	I-Language
are	O
header	B-Language
based	O
,	O
consisting	O
of	O
inline	O
functions	O
and	O
templates	B-Application
,	O
and	O
as	O
such	O
do	O
not	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
built	O
in	O
advance	O
of	O
their	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
Boost	B-Language
libraries	I-Language
coexist	O
as	O
independent	O
libraries	B-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
founders	O
of	O
Boost	B-Language
that	O
are	O
still	O
active	O
in	O
the	O
community	O
includes	O
David	O
Abrahams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
author	O
of	O
several	O
books	O
on	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
Nicolai	O
Josuttis	O
,	O
contributed	O
to	O
the	O
Boost	B-Language
array	O
library	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
mailing	O
lists	O
devoted	O
to	O
Boost	B-Language
library	I-Language
use	O
and	O
library	O
development	O
,	O
active	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Boost	B-Language
is	O
licensed	B-License
under	O
its	O
own	O
free	B-Application
,	O
open-source	O
license	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
Boost	B-Language
Software	B-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
a	O
permissive	O
license	O
in	O
the	O
style	O
of	O
the	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
license	I-Operating_System
and	O
the	B-License
MIT	I-License
license	I-License
,	O
but	O
without	O
requiring	O
attribution	O
for	O
redistribution	O
in	O
binary	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
license	O
has	O
been	O
OSI-approved	O
since	O
February	O
2008	O
and	O
is	O
considered	O
a	O
free	B-License
software	I-License
license	I-License
,	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
,	O
by	O
the	B-Operating_System
Free	I-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
