In this chapter, we will cover some useful recipes for creating our own libraries, including an explanation of the principle of least surprise, which encourages us to implement libraries using semantics that our users are already familiar with. We will also look at how to namespace everything to ensure our custom libraries don't conflict with others. In addition, we will look at how to create header-only libraries, as well as some best practices associated with library development. Finally, we will conclude this chapter with a demonstration of the boost libraries to show you what a large library looks like and how it can be used by users in their own projects.

In this chapter, we will cover the following recipes:

• Understanding the principle of least surprise
• How to namespace everything
• Header-only libraries
• Learning library development best practices
• Learning how to use the boost APIs

Let's get started!