This session will cover modern and current C++ style, focusing on C++14. I’ll demonstrate how major features and idioms from C++98 are now entirely replaced or subsumed and should be used no more; how other major features and idioms have been dramatically improved to the point where you code is cleaner and safer and you’ll even think in a different style; and how pervasive styles as common as variable declarations are changed forever, and not just for style but for serious technical safety and efficiency benefits. For one thing, you’ll never look at ‘auto’ the same way again (there, I said it; bring out the lederhosen and pitchforks! or attend the session and challenge in person to dig deep into the good reasons for the new reality).

Why C++14? Two reasons: First, it really does “complete C++11” with small but important consistency features like generic lambdas and make_unique that let us teach modern C++ style with fewer “except for” footnotes. Second, C++14 “is” C++ for the next several years and it’s real; as of last month it’s feature-complete, and I expect we will have at least two complete major commercial implementations available next year around the same time C++14 is formally published.

C++14 is a small but important improvement on C++11 that really does complete the language. What this means is that we’re going to have a complete and simpler set of idioms and styles to learn and use.

I’m planning to spend at least two hours in these highly interactive sessions. Be prepared to interact, challenge, and otherwise participate, and to discover new and useful information even if you’ve already been heavily using C++11.