Modern C++: What You Need to Know -- Herb Sutter

By Blog Staff | Apr 4, 2014 11:09 AM | Tags: performance intermediate efficiency basics

A recording of yesterday's //build/ talk by Herb Sutter is now available on Channel 9:

Modern C++: What You Need to Know

by Herb Sutter

This talk will give an update on recent progress and near-future directions for C++, both at Microsoft and across the industry. This is a great introduction to the current state of the language, including a glimpse into the future of general purpose, performance-intensive, power-friendly, powerful native programming.

From the advance description on Herb's blog:

I was asked to give a "foundational talk" about C++, and I decided that meant I should focus on addressing two questions that I get a lot these days:

• FAQ #1 (1-2 slides): When should I use C++ compared to another language -- on all platforms in general, and on Microsoft platforms in particular?
• FAQ #2 (lots of slides): What should I know about C++ if I’m a {Java|C#|JavaScript|Python|...} developer?

Even if you're a seasoned C++ developer, there are some nuggets and data points in the middle of the talk that I think you will find useful in your own work...

C++ in the 21st Century -- Arvid Norberg

By Blog Staff | Mar 31, 2014 10:17 PM | Tags: intermediate c++11 basics

A recently posted talk by BitTorrent's chief architect:

C++ in the 21st Century

by Arvid Norberg

From the announcement:

In this edition of Tech Talks: an overview of some C++ gems. I threw this talk together because my team was about to start a new project in C++11. Since it’s fairly new, I figured some of it might not be as well-known as it should. Fundamentally, I’m pretty excited about all the new possibilities in C++11. Even higher-level abstractions, at even lower cost than C++98.

In the video below, we go over for-loops, automatic type deduction, lambda functions and more.

C++: The Good Parts -- Jordan DeLong

By Blog Staff | Mar 11, 2014 01:06 PM | Tags: intermediate functional concepts c++14 c++11

A fun(ctional) talk from QCon:

C++: The Good Parts (slides)

by Jordan DeLong

The talk abstract:

Although C++ originated with the primary aim of adding Object Oriented features to C, it has evolved from the OO paradigm into a multi-paradigm language with strong support for various functional programming idioms.   C++11 adds several language features, most notably lambda expressions, that are overtly functional. But even prior to C++11, key parts of the standard library sported a design that has fundamentally more in common with functional programming than with OO.   This talk gives an overview of the past, current and near future "good parts" of C++'s functional side, through the colored lens of the speaker's biases.

Dive into C++11 (#4) — Smart pointers

By Vittorio Romeo | Jan 6, 2014 02:48 AM | Tags: intermediate

Hello once more isocpp users, I’m Vittorio Romeo, a computer science student, hobbyist game developer and C++ enthusiast.

I’ve uploaded the fourth episode of “Dive into C++11” on my YouTube channel.

After looking at C and C++'s memory and lifetime management in part 3, we'll take a brief look at C++11 smart pointers. We will learn what they are, what problem they solve, their advantages and their uses.

The intended audience for this tutorial/screencast are people who have some experience with C++ in general, and who watched the previous episodes. This episode may be very interesting for those with experience with C++ who want to learn more about variable lifetime and memory management.

I greatly appreciate comments and criticism, and ideas for future videos/tutorials.

Feel free to fork/analyze the source code at: https://github.com/SuperV1234/Tutorials

You can find the previous episodes here:

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Playlist

Thanks for watching!

Dive into C++11 (#3)—Automatic lifetime, pointers, dynamic allocation

By Vittorio Romeo | Dec 19, 2013 01:36 PM | Tags: intermediate

[Note: Automatic lifetime is indeed the right default -- correct and efficient. When you need to use the heap, however, note that you should now use unique_ptr (or if necessary shared_ptr via make_shared) instead of explicit new and delete. -- Ed.]

Hello again, I’m Vittorio Romeo, a computer science student, hobbyist game developer and C++ enthusiast.

I’ve uploaded the third episode of “Dive into C++11” on my YouTube channel.

In this episode we'll take a break from game development to delve into C and C++'s memory and lifetime management.

We'll talk about automatic variable lifetime, pointers in general and dynamic memory allocation.

The intended audience for this tutorial/screencast are people who have some experience with C++ in general, and who watched the previous episodes. This episode may be very interesting for those with experience with C++ who want to learn more about variable lifetime and memory management.

I greatly appreciate comments and criticism, and ideas for future videos/tutorials.

Feel free to fork/analyze the source code at: https://github.com/SuperV1234/Tutorials

You can find the previous episodes here:

• Episode 1
• Episode 2
• Playlist

Dive into C++11 (#2) -- Frametime/FPS, constexpr, uniform initialization, and more

By Vittorio Romeo | Dec 3, 2013 03:59 AM | Tags: intermediate basics

Hello again, I’m Vittorio Romeo, a computer science student, hobbyist game developer and C++ enthusiast.

I've uploaded the second episode of "Dive into C++11" on my YouTube channel. You can find the first episode here.

You can find the complete playlist here.

In this episode we will learn more about two previously mentioned new awesome C++11 features: "constexpr" and "uniform initialization syntax".

Most importantly, we will also deal with a very big issue that every game developer must face: FPS/frametime, and how to avoid the game from behaving differently on slower/faster machines.

In addition, we'll also briefly learn about "const-correctness" and using the "noexcept" keyword.

We will analyze the "time-slice" method to allow the game to run smoothly and consistently on every machine.

In the last code segment, we will also "refactor" our code by creating a `Game` class, making our source much easier to read and maintain.

I greatly appreciate comments and criticism, and ideas for future videos/tutorials.

Feel free to fork the game's source code at: https://github.com/SuperV1234/Tutorials

Dive into C++11 -- Arkanoid clone in 160 lines of code (SFML2)

By Vittorio Romeo | Nov 25, 2013 11:00 AM | Tags: sfml basics

I'm Vittorio Romeo, a computer science student, hobbyist game developer and C++ enthusiast.

I've created a 40 minute tutorial/screencast on the creation of a complete game using C++11 and SFML2. The end result is a playable Arkanoid/Breakout clone with a paddle, a ball and destroyable bricks.

I divided the code in 9 segments, that I analyze and execute individually.

The point of the video is showing how easy it is to create something playable thanks to the C++11 standard, and to show a possible train of thought that can be taken during game development.

I greatly appreciate comments and criticism, and ideas for future videos/tutorials.

Also, feel free to fork the game's source code here: https://github.com/SuperV1234/Tutorials

If the idea catches on, I'd love to make a video featuring the best forks.

Thanks for watching!

Core C++ #10 -- Stephan T. Lavavej

By Blog Staff | Nov 18, 2013 04:41 PM | Tags: intermediate basics advanced

Accompanying today's release of the VC++ CTP, there is a new talk by Stephan T. Lavavej available covering several major C++11 and draft C++14 features that are of likely interest to C++ developers using any compiler.

Core C++, 10 of n (Nov 2013 CTP)

by Stephan T. Lavavej

From the summary:

In part 10, STL explores the new features in the Visual C++ Compiler November 2013 CTP (Community Technology Preview), in addition to the features that were added between VC 2013 Preview and RTM.

Features included in the November CTP ( generic lambdas!!! Smiley ):

C++11, C++14, and C++/CX features:

• Implicit move special member function generation (thus also completing =default)
• Reference qualifiers on member functions (a.k.a. "& and && for *this")
• Thread-safe function local static initialization (a.k.a. "magic statics")
• Inheriting constructors
• alignof/alignas
• __func__
• Extended sizeof
• constexpr (except for member functions)
• noexcept (unconditional)
• C++14 decltype(auto)
• C++14 auto function return type deduction
• C++14 generic lambdas (with explicit lambda capture list)
• (Proposed for C++17) Resumable functions and await

Free introductory C++ web course on Tuesday November 19 -- Kate Gregory, James McNellis

By Blog Staff | Nov 12, 2013 10:06 AM | Tags: None

Coming next week on Microsoft Virtual Academy:

C++: A General Purpose Language and Library

by Kate Gregory and James McNellis

Live on November 19, 2013, 9:00am-5:00pm PST (other time zones), later on demand

Cost: Free

With these speakers, we expect a high quality talk. If you're new to C++, or know someone who is and would like to learn about the language, watch and recommend this talk. This event uses the Microsoft Visual Studio environment, but the content is applicable to new C++ developers using any compiler and platform.

From the announcement:

Attention developers: here’s a painless way to learn the basics of C++ from the ground up, whether you’re updating legacy code or writing brand new, efficient, and high-performance code for new platforms like phones and want to take advantage of C++.  You’ll learn the fundamentals of the C++ language, how to use the language and its Standard Library effectively, and how to use the Visual Studio environment for developing C++, including debugging, exploring code, and understanding error messages.  This is your starting point for building software in C++.

COURSE OUTLINE

• Introduction to Programming Concepts
• Getting Started
• The C++ Object Model
• Pointers and Indirection
• RAII – Resource Acquisition is Initialization
• The C++ Standard Library (STL)

INSTRUCTOR TEAM

Kate Gregory | Partner, Gregory Consulting Limited | @gregcons

Kate Gregory is a C++ expert who has been using C++ since before Microsoft had a C++ compiler, an early adopter of many software technologies and tools, and a well-connected member of the software development community. She has over three decades of scientific and engineering programming experience in a variety of programming languages. Since January 2002 she has been Microsoft Regional Director for Toronto and since January 2004 she has been awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional designation for Visual C++. In June 2005 she won the Regional Director of the year award, and she was one of the C++ MVPs of the year for 2010.
Kate is the author of over a dozen books, mostly on C++ programming; the latest, on massively parallel programming with C++ AMP, was published in fall 2012 by Microsoft Press. Her firm, Gregory Consulting Limited, is based in rural Ontario and helps clients adopt new technologies and adjust to the changing business environment. Managing, mentoring, technical writing, and technical speaking occupy much of her time, but she still writes code every week.

James McNellis | Microsoft Senior Software Development Engineer | @JamesMcNellis

James McNellis is a computer programmer and C++ maven. A senior engineer on the Microsoft Visual C++ team, James builds modern C++ libraries and is the maintainer of the Visual C++, C Runtime (CRT), and C Standard Library implementation. He was previously a member of the Microsoft Expression Blend team, developing the XAML designer tools for Windows 8 apps. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2010, he spent several years working on real-time 3-D simulation and robotics projects in the defense industry. James is a prolific contributor on the Stack Overflow programming Q&A website and writes for the Visual C++ Team Blog.

New Adventures in C++ with Cinder and More -- Ale Contenti

By NoSenseEtAl | Oct 31, 2013 08:15 AM | Tags: intermediate

The Cinder C++ library for graphics got a shout-out from Herb Sutter at GoingNative'13, and now we get a full hour-long talk about Cinder from Visual Studio's own Ale Contenti.

New Adventures in C++ with Cinder and More

Play and be productive with modern C++, graphics, on-the-fly projects and more! Starting from the latest Going Native 2013 talks as an inspiration, we will explore how easy is to mold ideas into graphics apps with C++ and Cinder, and how simple tools and techniques can help us be more productive in Visual Studio!

Watch the video, or download the slides.