Clang++ Builds Boost!

Boost is a collection of open-source, peer-reviewed C++ libraries that's well-known for having many good utility components for C++ programmers. It's also well-known for using bleeding-edge C++ techniques, such as extensive template and preprocessor metaprogramming, that have pushed many C++ compilers beyond their breaking point. Beyond just being a library, Boost has become a benchmark and a selling point for C++ compilers: is your compiler standards-confomant enough to build Boost?

Clang is.

This morning, Clang++ had its first fully-successful Boost regression test run, passing every applicable C++ test on the Boost release branch [*]. According to today's results, Clang is successfully compiling more of Boost than other, established compilers for which Boost has historically been tailored (through various workarounds and configuration switches). In fact, Clang's compiler configuration in Boost is completely free of any of Boost's C++98/03 defect macros.

As for the specifics: tests were run on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) with Clang targeting x86-64, debug build of Boost with the Clang toolset and a Release build of Clang from Subversion trunk.

If you want to try Boost with Clang, first get Clang from Subversion trunk and then get Boost from Subversion (the release branch is most stable) and edit your ~/user-config.jam file by adding the following line:

using clang ;

assuming that "clang++" is in your path. Then, you can run

bjam toolset=clang

to instruct Boost.Build to use Clang as its compiler.

[*] For those keeping score, the "build" results are build-system tests, not compiler tests, and the MPI tests are disabled due to breakage in the Serialization library. We are working with the library author to address the Serialization problems in Boost.