CppCon 2017: CNL: A Compositional Numeric Library--John McFarlane

By Adrien Hamelin | Jul 30, 2018 11:11 AM | Tags: community

Have you registered for CppCon 2018 in September? Registration is open now.

While we wait for this year’s event, we’re featuring videos of some of the 100+ talks from CppCon 2017 for you to enjoy. Here is today’s feature:

CNL: A Compositional Numeric Library

by John McFarlane

(watch on YouTube) (watch on Channel 9)

Summary of the talk:

CNL is a numerics library born out of efforts to standardize fixed-point arithmetic.
It provides number types which increase precision, enforce correctness and maintain efficiency.
And by designing these types with composability in mind, the library aims to do for integers what the STL does for pointers.

This introductory talk will show potential users how they can benefit from using CNL in a wide variety of applications. Firstly, the individual components will be illustrated using straightforward examples. Then we'll see how these components slot together to produce powerful new types. Finally I'll detail the steps necessary to adapt existing types to work within the CNL framework.

Along the way, I hope to share some of the insights I've gained while learning about literal types including: why you shouldn't mess with `int` if you want zero-cost abstractions; how C++ is getting better at supporting new number types and my hopes for the forthcoming Numeric TS.

CppCon 2017: Building C++ Modules--Boris Kolpackov

By Adrien Hamelin | Jul 25, 2018 12:30 PM | Tags: experimental community

Have you registered for CppCon 2018 in September? Registration is open now.

While we wait for this year’s event, we’re featuring videos of some of the 100+ talks from CppCon 2017 for you to enjoy. Here is today’s feature:

Building C++ Modules

by Boris Kolpackov

(watch on YouTube) (watch on Channel 9)

Summary of the talk:

C++ Modules TS is now implemented (to various degrees) by GCC, Clang, and MSVC. The aim of this talk is to provide practical information on the mechanics of creating and consuming modules with these compilers. It is based on our experience adding modules support to the build2 toolchain and then modularizing some of its components.

We start with a brief introduction to C++ modules, why we need them, and how they relate to other physical design mechanisms, namely headers, namespaces, and libraries.

Next we explore the kind of integration modules will require from a C++ build system. Specifically, when and where a module binary interface is built? How can a build system discover which modules are needed? What are the implications for parallel and distributed builds? Can we finally get rid of the preprocessor? And what happens to header-only libraries in this brave new modularized world?

With a firm understanding of the implications C++ modules have on the build process, we can try to answer some of the module design questions: What is an appropriate module granularity? Should we have separate module interface and implementation units? Can we have a dual header/module interface for legacy support? Are module-only libraries to become all the rage?

CppCon 2017: Programming with C++ Constraints: Background, Utility, and Gotchas--Walter E. Brown

By Adrien Hamelin | Jul 23, 2018 02:13 PM | Tags: community

Have you registered for CppCon 2018 in September? Registration is open now.

While we wait for this year’s event, we’re featuring videos of some of the 100+ talks from CppCon 2017 for you to enjoy. Here is today’s feature:

Programming with C++ Constraints: Background, Utility, and Gotchas

by Walter E. Brown

(watch on YouTube) (watch on Channel 9)

Summary of the talk:

Compile-time constraints will likely soon become part of our routine C++ programming vocabulary. Why? Such constraints are induced by new core language features (requires-clauses and requires-expressions) that are on the horizon for C++. What are these all about?

Almost every function imposes requirements on its users; violating those requirements typically leads to incorrect programs. Historically, such requirements had to be expressed in comments or other documentation, as there was little machinery to express them in code. Soon we will be able to express more requirements in code, thus allowing compilers to detect and address more violations.

This talk aims to prepare both new and veteran C++ programmers with the necessary background, tutorial information, and advice to exploit this powerful new supplement to function declarations. A case study, illustrating an unexpected gotcha, will conclude the presentation.

C++ Weekly Episode 125: The Optimal Way To Return From A Function—Jason Turner

By Jason Turner | Jul 23, 2018 10:31 AM | Tags: performance efficiency basics

Episode 125 of C++ Weekly.

The Optimal Way To Return From A Function

by Jason Turner

About the show:

In this episode of C++ Weekly Jason investigates the possible methods that one of two string values might be returned from a function. Which option is best? Which option can the compiler optimize the most? Do we take one return path or multiple return paths? Should a ternary be used?

CppCast Episode 159: Design Patterns in Modern C++ with Dmitri Nesteruk

By robwirving | Jul 20, 2018 08:38 AM | Tags: None

Episode 159 of CppCast the only podcast for C++ developers by C++ developers. In this episode Rob and Jason are joined by Dmitri Nesteruk to discuss Design Patterns with Modern C++.

CppCast Episode 159: Design Patterns in Modern C++ with Dmitri Nesteruk

by Rob Irving and Jason Turner

About the interviewee:

Dmitri Nesteruk is a quantitative analyst, developer, course and book author, and an occasional conference speaker. His interests lie in software development and integration practices in the areas of computation, quantitative finance and algorithmic trading. His technological interests include C# and C++ programming as well high-performance computing using technologies such as CUDA and FPGAs.

CppCon 2017: Undefined Behaviour is awesome!--Piotr Padlewski

By Adrien Hamelin | Jul 18, 2018 09:06 AM | Tags: community

Have you registered for CppCon 2018 in September? Registration is open now.

While we wait for this year’s event, we’re featuring videos of some of the 100+ talks from CppCon 2017 for you to enjoy. Here is today’s feature:

Undefined Behaviour is awesome!

by Piotr Padlewski

(watch on YouTube) (watch on Channel 9)

Summary of the talk:

Undefined behavior (UB) is one of the features of C++ that is both loved and hated. Every C++ developer cares about performance, which is why it is very important to understand what the compiler can optimize and what are the language guarantees. Many times programmers are too optimistic about what the compiler can optimize, or they waste time optimizing code by hand.

In this talk you will learn:
- what is the “as-if” rule
- why compilers know less than the programmer — the main problem with Translation Units
- why compilers optimize based on UB, but don't warn about it
- why Undefined Behavior can transcend time, removing your whole code without running 88mph
- why having a more constrained language is better — optimizations that you can’t do in C

CppCon 2017: Seventeenification: Porting sqlpp11 to C++17--Roland Bock

By Adrien Hamelin | Jul 16, 2018 09:32 AM | Tags: community

Have you registered for CppCon 2018 in September? Registration is open now.

While we wait for this year’s event, we’re featuring videos of some of the 100+ talks from CppCon 2017 for you to enjoy. Here is today’s feature:

Seventeenification: Porting sqlpp11 to C++17

by Roland Bock

(watch on YouTube) (watch on Channel 9)

Summary of the talk:

The ink on C++17 has merely dried, but the major compilers support most features already. It's high time for a reality check!

This talk is a report about the ongoing effort of porting sqlpp11 to C++17. I'll show real-world usage of the following features:

Core:
inline variables
auto non-type template parameters
[[nodiscard]]
class template deduction
constexpr if
fold expressions

Library:
string_view
optional

This talk also comes with a realization about C++11.

CopperSpice: C++ in review

By Ansel Sermersheim | Jul 14, 2018 06:38 AM | Tags: None

New video on the CopperSpice YouTube Channel:

C++ in review

by Barbara Geller and Ansel Sermersheim

About the video:

This video marks the one year anniversary of the CopperSpice YouTube channel. In this video we answer questions we have received, talk about a few corrections to our past videos, and also show new examples. One of the examples about overload resolution, is a bit bizarre and well worth checking out.

Please take a look and remember to subscribe!

CppCast Episode 158: Future of 2D Graphics Proposal with Guy Davidson

By robwirving | Jul 13, 2018 07:02 AM | Tags: None

Episode 158 of CppCast the only podcast for C++ developers by C++ developers. In this episode Rob and Jason are joined by Guy Davidson from Creative Assembly to discuss the future of the 2D Graphics proposal after the C++ meeting in Rapperswil.

CppCast Episode 158: Future of 2D Graphics Proposal with Guy Davidson

by Rob Irving and Jason Turner

About the interviewee:

Guy Davidson is the Coding Manager of Creative Assembly, makers of the Total War franchise, Alien: Isolation and Halo Wars 2, Guy has been writing games since the early 1980s. He is now also a contributor to SG14, the study group devoted to low latency, real time requirements, and performance/efficiency especially for Games, Financial/Banking, and Simulations. He speaks at schools, colleges and universities about programming and likes to help good programmers become better programmers.

CppCon 2017: Delegate this! Designing with delegates in modern C++--Alfred Bratterud

By Adrien Hamelin | Jul 11, 2018 01:23 PM | Tags: performance community

Have you registered for CppCon 2018 in September? Registration is open now.

While we wait for this year’s event, we’re featuring videos of some of the 100+ talks from CppCon 2017 for you to enjoy. Here is today’s feature:

Delegate this! Designing with delegates in modern C++

by Alfred Bratterud

(watch on YouTube) (watch on Channel 9)

Summary of the talk:

Designing a fast IP stack from scratch is hard. Using delegates made it all easier for IncludeOS, the open source library operating system written from scratch in modern C++. Our header-only delegates are just as fast as C-style function pointers, compatible with std::function, and allows any object to delegate work to stateful member functions without knowing anything about the class they belong to. We use delegates for everything from routing packets to creating REST endpoints, and most importantly to tie the whole IP stack together. In this talk we’ll show you how we use delegates in IncludeOS, discuss pitfalls and alternatives, and give you all you need to get started.