Re:#include <rules>
by ryandrake on Sunday February 04, 2024 @09:10AM
(#39250309)
Modern C++ is great and I would choose it today if I were starting a project from scratch. I think people’s problem with C++ is the existing projects/code. If I were to join a random company today working with a C++ code base, it is very likely I’d be dealing with legacy code complete with all the 1990s footguns C++ dismissers dismiss. That code base would also likely have problems like requiring Visual C++ 6.0 to compile, emitting thousands of warnings that have been ignored for decades, and the company shipping the DEBUG executable because nobody can figure out how to get the RELEASE build to not crash. Often existing C++ projects come with 1990s era problems, so detractors can still legitimately use 30 year old arguments.
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Re:#include <rules>
by JonChesterfield on Sunday February 04, 2024 @10:04AM
(#39250697)
Modern C++ is mostly syntactic sugar over older C++. If you manage to walk the happy path entirely within said syntax the code looks quite pretty. Lots of the language design is about having a nicer way to express common ideas.
If you stray from the happy path, the demons come for you. Or if your use case isn't met by the existing sugar. Or if you have a dependency which was written a couple of years ago that you need to reach into.
And naturally the project started from scratch today, only using the very nicest C++ features, will be legacy code written wrong in three or six years from now as the language moves on.
I wouldn't want to start a new project in C++ today but I'm not totally confident there's a better choice available.