Refactoring Session #2a: Matrix Calculation – Code Smells
A while ago, Twitter user @vaughncato sent me the piece of code for this refactoring session. Since there is a lot of things to do on this code, I split […]
C++
Source File Organization for C++ Projects Part 1: Headers and Sources
Any C++ developer knows how to compile and link multiple compilation units together. The difficult part can be to determine which parts of the code should be separated in different compilation […]
Modern C++ Features – constexpr
In the last two weeks I have written about the basics of compile time constants and calculation with those constants. This week I conclude this mini series with the keyword […]
Compile Time Constants Part 2: Compile Time Calculations
I have written about what we need compile time constants for last week. This time I will dig a bit into where we can get compile time constants from, and […]
Compile Time Constants Part 1: Why We Need Them
Compile time constants are an important part of C++. They contribute to program correctness and allow the optimizer to do a better job. Today I will deal with what is possible […]
RAII versus Exceptions
Recently I received a question on Twitter whether to prefer RAII over Exceptions. I have seen similar questions being asked again and again over time, so there seems to be […]
Covariance with Smart Pointers
Covariance can be a useful concept, e.g. when implementing the abstract factory design pattern. However, in modern C++, we should return smart pointers that are not recognized to be covariant like […]
Visitor Pattern Part 2 – the enum based visitor
In my last post I showed the Visitor design pattern in its fully object oriented implementation. In the post before that I wrote about moving from enums to class hierarchies. I […]
Visitor Pattern Part 1- the Object Oriented Way
If you have read the “Gang of Four” book about design patterns or just have been long enough in software development, you will have heard of the Visitor pattern. In its fully […]
Enum vs. Class Hierarchies
When an enum controls the behavior of a class, that behavior can sometimes be expressed by class hierarchies.