Library in a week 2014 will attempt to build a C++ template engine library. Templating engines are very popular libraries that provide a way to separate an application from ouput. Often the output is a html or text that may be developed by an non-programmer or other development team.
Consider the following program which uses the ctemplate library:
//user.tpl
Hello {{NAME}}!
//user.cpp
#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <ctemplate/template.h>
int main() {
std::string user = getenv("USER");
ctemplate::TemplateDictionary dict("example");
dict["NAME"] = user;
std::string output;
ctemplate::ExpandTemplate("example.tpl", ctemplate::DO_NOT_STRIP, &dict, &output);
std::cout << output;
return 0;
}
In this example the output is simple text, but the template file could be replaced with html or json and the application would not need to be changed.
A templating engine has two languages - the markup langauge the allows a text template to be filled in by an application and the library langauge for the application to be developed. In our case the library language will be C++11.
The workshop will work like this. On day 1 I will provide motiviation and an overview of the library development. We will split into individuals and groups to attack various aspects of the library and markup languge design. Some groups may look at existing libraries for inspiration providing presentations on the best aspects of the other libraries. From that point forward it will be up to the group to direct the remainder of the workshop.
Collaboration Tools:
Library in a week 2014 will use a git repository for collaboration and sharing of information.
git clone https://github.com/JeffGarland/liaw2014.git
Also the group will use an email list for discussions beyond face to face meetings.
Level: Beginner to Expert
Attendees should have a basic background in C++.
