diff --git a/core/asserts.hpp b/core/asserts.hpp
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+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) 2014-2016,  Regents of the University of California,
+ *                           Arizona Board of Regents,
+ *                           Colorado State University,
+ *                           University Pierre & Marie Curie, Sorbonne University,
+ *                           Washington University in St. Louis,
+ *                           Beijing Institute of Technology,
+ *                           The University of Memphis.
+ *
+ * This file is part of NFD (Named Data Networking Forwarding Daemon).
+ * See AUTHORS.md for complete list of NFD authors and contributors.
+ *
+ * NFD is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms
+ * of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation,
+ * either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * NFD is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
+ * without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+ * PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+ * NFD, e.g., in COPYING.md file.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#ifndef NFD_CORE_ASSERTS_HPP
+#define NFD_CORE_ASSERTS_HPP
+
+#include "common.hpp"
+#include <boost/concept/assert.hpp>
+#include <boost/concept_check.hpp>
+#include <type_traits>
+
+namespace nfd {
+namespace detail {
+
+// As of Boost 1.54.0, the internal implementation of BOOST_CONCEPT_ASSERT does not allow
+// multiple assertions on the same line, so we have to combine multiple concepts together.
+
+template<typename T>
+class StlForwardIteratorConcept : public boost::ForwardIterator<T>
+                                , public boost::DefaultConstructible<T>
+{
+};
+
+} // namespace detail
+} // namespace nfd
+
+/** \brief assert T is default constructible
+ *  \sa http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/concept/DefaultConstructible
+ */
+#define NFD_ASSERT_DEFAULT_CONSTRUCTIBLE(T) \
+  static_assert(std::is_default_constructible<T>::value, \
+                #T " must be default-constructible"); \
+  BOOST_CONCEPT_ASSERT((boost::DefaultConstructible<T>))
+
+/** \brief assert T is a forward iterator
+ *  \sa http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/concept/ForwardIterator
+ *  \note A forward iterator should be default constructible, but boost::ForwardIterator follows
+ *        SGI standard which doesn't require DefaultConstructible, so a separate check is needed.
+ */
+#define NFD_ASSERT_FORWARD_ITERATOR(T) \
+  BOOST_CONCEPT_ASSERT((::nfd::detail::StlForwardIteratorConcept<T>)); \
+  static_assert(std::is_default_constructible<T>::value, \
+                #T " must be default-constructible")
+
+#endif // NFD_CORE_ASSERTS_HPP