How to figure out what formula corresponds to a given package in homebrew

homebrewinstallpackage-management

I am trying to install 'Parallel Patterns Library' for c++. The package is generally abbreviated 'ppl'. As I did

brew home ppl

I figured that the formula 'ppl' is associated with 'Parma Polyhedra Library' and not 'Parallel Patterns Library'. How can I find out what formula is associated with 'Parallel Patterns Library' (if any)?

Eventually more generally, I'd welcome advice on how to install 'Parallel Patterns Library' if there is no homebrew formula for it.

Best Answer

brew desc should search among both formula names and descriptions, and is now included in brew. The site Search Brew also uses this. However, both seem to cover only the default repository, as a quick test on my machine fails to pick up packages in homebrew/python.

In the specific case of the Parallel Patterns Library, I'm not sure that the entire 'ppl' is actually available on Mac. Microsoft has made a subset of it cross-platform as 'pplx', but otherwise I have no good news.

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