<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <title>Preface</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../../../../doc/src/boostbook.css" type="text/css"> <meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.75.2"> <link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="Chapter 1. Fusion 2.0"> <link rel="up" href="../index.html" title="Chapter 1. Fusion 2.0"> <link rel="prev" href="../index.html" title="Chapter 1. Fusion 2.0"> <link rel="next" href="introduction.html" title="Introduction"> </head> <body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"> <table cellpadding="2" width="100%"><tr> <td valign="top"><img alt="Boost C++ Libraries" width="277" height="86" src="../../../../../boost.png"></td> <td align="center"><a href="../../../../../index.html">Home</a></td> <td align="center"><a href="../../../../../libs/libraries.htm">Libraries</a></td> <td align="center"><a href="http://www.boost.org/users/people.html">People</a></td> <td align="center"><a href="http://www.boost.org/users/faq.html">FAQ</a></td> <td align="center"><a href="../../../../../more/index.htm">More</a></td> </tr></table> <hr> <div class="spirit-nav"> <a accesskey="p" href="../index.html"><img src="../../../../../doc/src/images/prev.png" alt="Prev"></a><a accesskey="u" href="../index.html"><img src="../../../../../doc/src/images/up.png" alt="Up"></a><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html"><img src="../../../../../doc/src/images/home.png" alt="Home"></a><a accesskey="n" href="introduction.html"><img src="../../../../../doc/src/images/next.png" alt="Next"></a> </div> <div class="section"> <div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"> <a name="fusion.preface"></a><a class="link" href="preface.html" title="Preface">Preface</a> </h2></div></div></div> <div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p> <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs.</span>”</span></em></span> </p></blockquote></div> <div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p> <span class="bold"><strong>--Niklaus Wirth</strong></span> </p></blockquote></div> <a name="fusion.preface.description"></a><h4> <a name="id863583"></a> <a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.description">Description</a> </h4> <p> Fusion is a library for working with heterogenous collections of data, commonly referred to as tuples. A set of containers (vector, list, set and map) is provided, along with views that provide a transformed presentation of their underlying data. Collectively the containers and views are referred to as sequences, and Fusion has a suite of algorithms that operate upon the various sequence types, using an iterator concept that binds everything together. </p> <p> The architecture is modeled after <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl/index.html" target="_top">MPL</a> which in turn is modeled after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Template_Library" target="_top">STL</a>. It is named "fusion" because the library is a "fusion" of compile time metaprogramming with runtime programming. </p> <a name="fusion.preface.motivation"></a><h4> <a name="id863613"></a> <a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.motivation">Motivation</a> </h4> <p> Tuples are powerful beasts. After having developed two significant projects (<a href="http://spirit.sourceforge.net" target="_top">Spirit</a> and <a href="http://boost.org/libs/spirit/phoenix/index.html" target="_top">Phoenix</a>) that relied heavily metaprogramming, it became apparent that tuples are a powerful means to simplify otherwise tricky tasks; especially those that require a combination of metaprogramming and manipulation of heterogenous data types with values. While <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl/index.html" target="_top">MPL</a> is an extremely powerful metaprogramming tool, <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl/index.html" target="_top">MPL</a> focuses on type manipulation only. Ultimately, you'll have to map these types to real values to make them useful in the runtime world where all the real action takes place. </p> <p> As <a href="http://spirit.sourceforge.net" target="_top">Spirit</a> and <a href="http://boost.org/libs/spirit/phoenix/index.html" target="_top">Phoenix</a> evolved, patterns and idioms related to tuple manipulation emerged. Soon, it became clear that those patterns and idioms were best assembled in a tuples algorithms library. <a href="http://www.boost.org/people/dave_abrahams.htm" target="_top">David Abrahams</a> outlined such a scheme in 2002. At that time, it just so happened that <a href="http://spirit.sourceforge.net" target="_top">Spirit</a> and <a href="http://boost.org/libs/spirit/phoenix/index.html" target="_top">Phoenix</a> had an adhoc collection of tuple manipulation and traversal routines. It was an instant <span class="emphasis"><em>AHA!</em></span> moment. </p> <a name="fusion.preface.how_to_use_this_manual"></a><h4> <a name="id863681"></a> <a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.how_to_use_this_manual">How to use this manual</a> </h4> <p> Some icons are used to mark certain topics indicative of their relevance. These icons precede some text to indicate: </p> <div class="table"> <a name="id863694"></a><p class="title"><b>Table 1.1. Icons</b></p> <div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="Icons"> <colgroup> <col> <col> <col> </colgroup> <thead><tr> <th> <p> Icon </p> </th> <th> <p> Name </p> </th> <th> <p> Meaning </p> </th> </tr></thead> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p> <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/note.png" alt="note"></span> </p> </td> <td> <p> Note </p> </td> <td> <p> Information provided is auxiliary but will give the reader a deeper insight into a specific topic. May be skipped. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p> <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/alert.png" alt="alert"></span> </p> </td> <td> <p> Alert </p> </td> <td> <p> Information provided is of utmost importance. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p> <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/caution.png" alt="caution"></span> </p> </td> <td> <p> Caution </p> </td> <td> <p> A mild warning. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p> <span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../images/tip.png" alt="tip"></span> </p> </td> <td> <p> Tip </p> </td> <td> <p> A potentially useful and helpful piece of information. </p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> </div> <br class="table-break"><p> This documentation is automatically generated by Boost QuickBook documentation tool. QuickBook can be found in the <a href="http://www.boost.org/tools/index.html" target="_top">Boost Tools</a>. </p> <a name="fusion.preface.support"></a><h4> <a name="id863910"></a> <a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.support">Support</a> </h4> <p> Please direct all questions to Spirit's mailing list. You can subscribe to the <a href="https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/spirit-general" target="_top">Spirit Mailing List</a>. The mailing list has a searchable archive. A search link to this archive is provided in <a href="http://spirit.sourceforge.net" target="_top">Spirit</a>'s home page. You may also read and post messages to the mailing list through <a href="news://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.spirit.general" target="_top">Spirit General NNTP news portal</a> (thanks to <a href="http://www.gmane.org" target="_top">Gmane</a>). The news group mirrors the mailing list. Here is a link to the archives: <a href="http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.parsers.spirit.general" target="_top">http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.parsers.spirit.general</a>. </p> </div> <table xmlns:rev="http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~gregod/boost/tools/doc/revision" width="100%"><tr> <td align="left"></td> <td align="right"><div class="copyright-footer">Copyright © 2001-2007 Joel de Guzman, Dan Marsden, Tobias Schwinger<p> Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. 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