The State of C++ – Is it Back or Not?
A few years ago when C++11 was published, people saw that C++ might be becoming a different language and a wave of enthusiasm got hold of the C++ community. “C++ is back!” […]
Arne Mertz
Passing containers as out-parameters
Sometimes I see functions that are meant to return a range of values, but instead of returning a container, they take one as out-parameter. There are several reasons why that […]
Domain Specific Languages in C++ – Part 2: External DSLs
Last week I wrote about what makes C++ a good choice as a host language for embedded DSLs. This week’s post will be about external DSLs with C++ as host […]
Domain Specific Languages in C++ – Part 1: Embedded DSLs
Domain-specific languages (DSLs) can be powerful tools to simplify certain aspects of programming. While DSLs can be used in most or all programming languages, I think there are a few […]
Everything In A Class? – C++ Is Not Java!
In Java there are no free functions, which simplifies lookup rules and code organization. Many C++ style guides have adopted the “only classes” style, prohibiting free functions. But C++ is […]
Properties of Unit Tests
In my last post I have written about the main and secondary uses of unit tests and how they compare to other kinds of automated tests. This time I will explore what […]
Purposes of Unit Tests
Many developers talk about unit tests, but it is not always clear what they mean. Sometimes there seems to be no distinction to other kinds of tests, and often there are discussions […]
Comments Mean Failure
I don’t like comments, because having to comment a piece of code means the code itself does not express everything there is to know.
The Perfect Code
A few days ago I came across a tweet in my twitter timeline that made me think and spawned a little discussion: @diegorlosada Programming is one of the few fields […]
Evolving a Framework
We use frameworks all the time. Some are part of third party libraries, others are self made. What options do we have if requirements change, especially for the custom frameworks?