C++ is not a novice-friendly language. With apologies to Scott Meyers, a beginner isn't learning just one language with C++, but four:
- The C parts
- Object Oriented parts: classes, inheritance, polymorphism, etc.
- The STL: containers, iterators, algorithms
- Templates and metaprogramming
I would argue that if the beginner is already climbing this mountain, they should be pointed towards the more "modern" aspects of C++ from the start. To do otherwise means that the beginner will learn C-ish C++ with regular pointers, resource leaks, etc. Find themselves in a world of pain, and then discover Boost and other libraries as a way to stem the hurt.
It's a complicated picture no matter what, so why not point them in a direction that has a positive pay-off for the invested mental efort?
As for dependencies, a great deal of Boost is header-only. And Boost's liberal license should permit its inclusion in just about any project.
