Feet up! : dev/cpp

Apache++

I've spotted a couple of interesting C++ projects being run under the Apache Software Foundation's banner. Log4cxx and stdcxx.

The stdcxx project is based on Rogue Wave Software's implementation of the C++ Standard Library, which was donated to the Apache Software Foundation earlier this Summer and is currently being incubated in the Apache Incubator. Having used Rogue Wave's non-standard library tools in the past I've got mixed feelings about this, but having another good implementation of the C++ Standard Library as open source should help all C++ developers.

Log4cxx is C++ port of the ubiquitous Log4j project. Love it or hate it, good easy-to-use logging can be a life saver for a developer. If you haven't already got a good, generic, and most importantly sane in-house logging library Log4cxx is worth a good look. It's also worth a look if you've got an existing system, after all like the Boost libraries why waste your time re-inventing the wheel when good, efficient, proven code already exists?

The C++ Source

Given that Guru of the Week has gone pretty quiet it's hard to find consistant high quality sources of C++ information these days on the web.

The C++ Source is a new peer-reviewed, online journal for the C++ community. The advisory board are hardly waht I'd regard as my peers, being headed by Bjarne Stroustrup and comprising the following luminaries: David Abrahams, J. Stephen Adamczyk, Andrei Alexandrescu, Matthew Austern, Pete Becker, Walter Bright, Steve Clamage, Greg Colvin, Jim Coplien, Stephen Dewhurst, Howard Hinnant, Bjorn Karlsson, Andrew Koenig, Scott Meyers, Thomas Plum, Dan Saks, Jerry Schwarz, Jeremy Siek, Herb Sutter, Matthew Wilson, Leor Zolman. Erm, can I say "wow!"?

Best of all, there's an RSS feed too.

When is false always true?

When you're using a mixed mode .Net C++ program apparently! If your managed C++ code calls an unmanaged virtual method that returns a bool you will only ever see a return value of true.

The Code Project documents this astonishing "feature" in .Net - truly scary stuff, just the sort of thing that'll make you pull your hair out when debugging.

ACCU - whoops!

I just renewed my ACCU (the Association of C and C++ Users) subscription, I'd nearly forgotten about it!

If you're even half serious about C++ you'd be daft not to join these guys. The website has a huge number of book reviews and the mentored developers programmes are great for personal development. Their really good mailing lists (some open to non members) are a great resource too.

Possibly the best bit is the two magazines every two months, both written by members, one's a good general magazine covering all levels of C and C++, book reviews, some Java, some Python and general ACCU business. The other magazine Overload is superb, written by some of the top C++ developers in the World (did I mention that Bjarne was a member?), and is full of articles on leading C++ usage and design.