At the CppCon C++ conference, the C++ creator identified the specific kinds of safety measures sorely needed in the programming language.
  • krnpnk@feddit.de
    4·
    1 year ago

    I really doubt that such a large change can come before C++ lost all its momentum. (And you could even argue that that already has happened)

    I’m currently stuck at work with C++14 as we need certain compiler qualifications (for safety in automotive). Even if that proposal would be in C++26 I could maybe use it in 2035 ($current_year - 2014 + 2026). In 2035 I doubt anyone in that domain will still write C++ as Rust is already making headway.

    • ursakhiin@beehaw.org
      1·
      1 year ago

      I definitely gave up on C++ when trying to refresh on it you’re me too go learn C++8 before jumping in to 14.

      If learning something requires learning an old version of it before moving on to the current version, something went very wrong.

      • solrize@lemmy.ml
        2·
        1 year ago

        It is perfectly ok to start with C++14, in fact probably preferable to starting with anything before C++11. The idioms changed a lot in C++11. I think changes since then have been minor and incremental by comparison.

          • solrize@lemmy.ml
            2·
            1 year ago

            When C++11 came out, there was an immediate feeling that the language had received a major overhaul and the best ways to do most things had completely changed. Everything from before that was legacy code, though a lot of it was around. I expect it is still mostly like that.

            Or do you mean about Rust? Yes that is new. I still don’t understand the attraction of Rust over Ada that well.

            • ursakhiin@beehaw.org
              1·
              1 year ago

              No, I mean in 2014 the advice was not to start with the latest. Every source I found on the topic recommended getting familiar with 8 and then increment my way up to 14.

              • solrize@lemmy.ml
                1·
                1 year ago

                I think the C++11 edition (whichever it was) of Stroustrup’s book TC++PL suggested using C++11 immediately. That is what I would have suggested. I used C++ by necessity in a few projects before that, but I didn’t start actually somewhat liking it until C++11. Everything before that was ugly legacy code.

  • solrize@lemmy.ml
    2·
    1 year ago

    I don’t think it’s possible to make C++ safe without strictly limiting the user program to a subset of the language. There are guidelines for that (https://github.com/isocpp/CppCoreGuidelines) but even when I try to code in that style, I get to debug crashes the usual way. C++ makes some optimizations possible through e.g. move semantics that are absent from Rust and Ada but I wonder if it really matters these days. Rust seems to be displacing C++ for lots of new projects going forward.