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The Four Polymorphisms in C++ -- Peteris Krumins

By Niks | Jun 24, 2015 04:39 AM | Tags: basics

C++ has more than one ways to express polymorphism. Discover the nomenclature and read examples on all of them in the following article :

The Four Polymorphisms in C++

by Peteris Krumins

From the article:

(...) These polymorphisms also go by different names in C++ :

  • Subtype polymorphism is also known as runtime polymorphism.
  • Parametric polymorphism is also known as compile-time polymorphism.
  • Ad-hoc polymorphism is also known as overloading.
  • Coercion is also known as (implicit or explicit) casting.

Nugget: static_assert--Glennan Carnie

By Adrien Hamelin | Jun 8, 2015 09:26 AM | Tags: c++11 basics

A short nugget by Glennan Carnie:

static_assert

by Glennan Carnie

From the article:

C’s assert library is a useful tool for catching invalid invariants (conditions that must hold true in order for your system to operate as specified) in your program. The big problem with assert is that it’s a run-time check; in many cases the best you can do  to recover from an assert failure is restart the system or put it into a quiescent state...

The compiler is to blame for everything -- Andrey Karpov

By Andrey Karpov | Jun 4, 2015 11:48 PM | Tags: errors compilers compiler bugs basics

Many programmers are very fond of blaming the compiler for different errors. Let's talk about it.

The compiler is to blame for everything

by Andrey Karpov

From the article:

When a programmer tells you that the compiler causes an error, it is a lie in 99% of cases. When you start investigating the problem, you usually find out the following reasons:

  • an array overrun;
  • an uninitialized variable;
  • a misprint;
  • a synchronization error in a parallel program;
  • a non-volatile variable used;
  • code leading to undefined behavior;
  • etc.

Quick Q: Why are override and final identifiers with special meaning instead of reserved keywords?

By Adrien Hamelin | May 28, 2015 02:31 PM | Tags: c++11 basics

Quick A: To avoid breaking old code, thanks to context-sensitive keywords.

Recently on SO:

Why are override and final identifiers with special meaning instead of reserved keywords?

Both the override specifier and final specifier were added in C++11. They differ from other specifiers added to C++11 such as constexpr and decltype, in that they are not keywords and so are available for use as identifiers:

int main()
{
  int override = 0 ;    // Ok
  int final = 0 ;       // Ok
  //int constexpr = 0 ; // Error
}

They are referred to as identifiers with special meaning, which is covered in the draft C++11 standard section 2.11 [lex.name] (emphasis mine):

The identifiers in Table 3 have a special meaning when appearing in a certain context. When referred to in the grammar, these identifiers are used explicitly rather than using the identifier grammar production. any ambiguity as to whether a given identifier has a special meaning is resolved to interpret the token as a regular identifier.
and Table 3 -- Identifiers with special meaning lists both override and final.

Why did these two specifiers end up being identifiers with special meaning instead of keywords?

Modern C++ Workshop at Polyglot Unconference 2015

By aleph7 | May 7, 2015 12:08 AM | Tags: community c++14 c++11 basics

This workshop is an introduction to new features and best practices of modern C++. We will delve into the core of C++ and all new features introduced in C++11 and C++14.

Introduction to Modern C++ Workshop happening at Polyglot Unconference 2015 in Vancouver, BC.

by Alejandro Isaza

From the workshop summary:

  • Write C++ code using the latest language features while following the best practices
  • Use third-party libraries and frameworks

 

 

Binary literals and digit separators--Marius Bancila

By Adrien Hamelin | May 4, 2015 08:02 AM | Tags: c++14 basics

The title says it all:

Binary literals and digit separators

by Marius Bancila

From the article:

The C++14 standard provides two new small features to the language: binary literals and digit separators. They are already available in Clang 3.4 and GCC 4.9 and now Visual Studio 2015 RC has implemented them. They may not be something you can’t leave without, but sometimes it’s convenient to have them. Let’s have a look...

Tippet: Use reference_wrapper to create views of data -- Indi

By Marcin Hoppe | Apr 24, 2015 04:55 AM | Tags: performance efficiency c++11 basics

Explicit C++ describes how to use std::reference_wrapper to create alternative views of data.

Tippet: Use reference_wrapper to create views of data

by Indi

from the article:

When working with objects indirectly, always use references. Only use pointers to indicate optional referencing. But there’s one little hitch: because you can’t rebind references, you can’t simply have a container of references. Enter std::reference_wrapper.

The C++ highlights and more of GCC 5.1

By Meeting C++ | Apr 24, 2015 01:30 AM | Tags: intermediate gcc experimental c++14 c++11 basics

The release of GCC 5.1 is a highlight, here is an overview on the most important new things:

The C++ highlights of GCC 5.1 and more

by Jens Weller

From the article:

Just recently, GCC 5.0 has been released as GCC5.1, the not only the newest version of GCC, but also bumping up the version number from 4 to 5. This release is a major milestone for GCC, but also for C++, as it brings full C++14 support, but yet not C++11(std=c++11) as the new default...