Before we go through to program our C++ application by using Boost libraries, the libraries need to be configured in order to be recognized by MinGW compiler. Here, we are going to prepare our programming environment so that our compiler is able use Boost libraries.
The best source from which to download Boost is the official download page. We can go there by pointing our internet browser to www.boost.org/users/download. Find the Download link in Current Release section. At the time of writing, the current version of Boost libraries is 1.58.0, but when you read this book, the version may have changed. If so, you can still choose the current release because the higher version must be compatible with the lower. However, you have to adjust as we're going to talk about the setting later. Otherwise, choosing the same version will make it easy for you to follow all the instructions in this book.
There are four file formats...