Enhance application security with FORTIFY_SOURCE

by Siddharth Sharma

The FORTIFY_SOURCE macro provides lightweight support for detecting buffer overflows in various functions that perform operations on memory and strings. Not all types of buffer overflows can be detected with this macro, but it does provide an extra level of validation for some functions that are potentially a source of buffer overflow flaws. It protects both C and C++ code. ...

The Future of C++ Compiler Diagnostics in MSVC and Visual Studio

by Xiang Fan

We are working hard on improving the diagnostics experience in MSVC and Visual Studio. We began this work in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.3 and while not everything is ready yet, we would like to share the early progress...

CppCon 2022 talk is online: “Can C++ be 10x simpler & safer ... ?”

by Herb Sutter

It was great to see many of you at CppCon, in person and online! It was a really fun conference this year, and the exhibitor hall felt crowded again which was a good feeling as we all start traveling more again.

The talk I gave on Friday is now on YouTube. In it I describe my experimental work on a potential alternate syntax for C++ (aka ‘syntax 2’ or Cpp2 for short) and my cppfront compiler that I’ve begun writing to implement it...

Opening 2022 Keynote: Bjarne Stroustrup, prerelease

CppCon 2022 is in midweek and so much has happened thus far in Aurora, Colorado!

Along with great talks from C++ experts, we’ve had social events and panels, including our annual Committee Fireside Chat where attendees had the opportunity to hear directly from C++ standard committee members.

CppCon wouldn’t be the same though without an opening keynote from C++’s creator, Bjarne Stroustrup. This year Bjarne’s focus was on using C++ in Constrained Environments.

This video is in “prerelease” and cannot be found directly on our YouTube channel, instead we are providing a direct link here only! Feel free to share this with colleagues and friends and impress them with your insider access ��

Safe comparisons in C++20

by Bartlomiej Filipek

Sometimes, If you mix different integer types in an expression, you might end up with tricky cases...

Non-standard containers in C++

by Evgeny Shulgin

The boost::devector is a hybrid of the std::vector and the std::deque. This container allows fast insertion at both its beginning and its end, just like the deque. But this container still keeps the vector features, such as the contiguous storage area and the conditions for the invalidation of iterators/pointers.

Microsoft C++ team at CppCon 2022

by Sy Brand

The Microsoft C++ team has an exciting lineup of sessions at CppCon 2022. Many of us will also be present at our team’s booth in the main hall for the first two days of the conference. Come say hi and let us know if you have any questions about our talks, products, or anything else! You can also join the #visual_studio channel on the CppCon Discord to talk to us (note: to join, head to #directory channel first, and check the checkbox next to “Visual Studio” box).

We’re also running a survey on the C++ ecosystem. If you have a moment, please take our survey, it’s quick.

Here’s the lineup: ...

Integrating C++ header units into Office using MSVC (1/n)

by Cameron DaCamara and Zachary Henkel

C++20 has had a lot to offer and one feature in particular requires the most thought of all when integrating into our projects: C++ modules (or C++ header units in this particular case). In this blog we will show a real world case of integrating a new C++20 feature into a large codebase that we might all be familiar with. ... This blog is the first in a series detailing experiences in integrating header units into the Office codebase.

Custom types and std::format from C++20

by Bartlomiej Filipek

std::format is a large and powerful addition in C++20 that allows us to format text into strings efficiently. It adds Python-style formatting with safety and ease of use.

This article will show you how to implement custom formatters that fit into this new std::format architecture...

(Non) Static Data Members Initialization, from C++11 till C++20

by Bartlomiej Filipek

With Modern C++ and each revision of the Standard, we get more comfortable ways to initialize data members. There’s non-static data member initialization (from C++11) and inline variables (for static members since C++17).

In this blog post, you’ll learn how to use the syntax and how it has changed over the years. We’ll go from C++11, through C++14, and C++17 until C++20.

Updated in July 2022: added more examples, use cases, and C++20 features.