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<div class="section" title="Preface">
<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>
        </p>
<p>
          <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="quote">&#8220;<span class="quote">Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs.</span>&#8221;</span></em></span>
        </p>
<p>
      </p>
</blockquote></div>
<div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote">
<p>
        </p>
<p>
          <span class="bold"><strong>--Niklaus Wirth</strong></span>
        </p>
<p>
      </p>
</blockquote></div>
<a name="fusion.preface.description"></a><h4>
<a name="id607480"></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="id607510"></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="id607577"></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="id607591"></a><p class="title"><b>Table&#160;1.1.&#160;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="id607795"></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>
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<td align="right"><div class="copyright-footer">Copyright &#169; 2001-2007 Joel de Guzman, Dan Marsden, Tobias
      Schwinger<p>
        Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
        file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt" target="_top">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)
      </p>
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