software development Archives

Another big tech company join the move away from C++ initiative, How we can stop this migration process?

Background

2011 marked the renaissance of C++, driven by the release of C++11 which introduced numerous features to modernize the language, such as lambda expressions, smart pointers, and a more efficient standard library. However, a decade later, major tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Meta are initiating processes to migrate away from C++. This shift highlights growing concerns about memory safety and the evolving landscape of systems programming.

Just recently there’s another big company joining the Moving away from C++ initiative. it concern Apple that recommend to replace C++ with Swift.

One could argue that the issue lies not with C++ itself, but with the developers using it. However, the reality is that big companies are shifting away from C++.

According to Tiobe C++ surpasses C for the first time in history, The Streisand Effect works :)

In the world of programming languages, C++ has long been a staple, valued for its power and performance. However, it’s also been the subject of significant criticism over the years. Interestingly, these criticisms often have an unintended consequence, making C++ even more popular—a phenomenon known as the Streisand Effect.

Recently, C++ faced widespread criticism, with even the White House advising against its use. Ironically, this led to an increase in its popularity. According to TIOBE, C++ has surpassed C in popularity for the first time in history.

To developers who heavily rely on AI for generating C++ code. Be careful.

AI-driven code generation has become an increasingly important aspect of software development, leveraging advanced models to write, optimize, and understand code. However, AI is not intended to replace developers but rather to aid them in their tasks. Ultimately, it is up to humans to determine how to utilize AI suggestions. Let’s consider this query we posed to GPT-4o:

give me a c++ functon to add 2 big integers

Here’s the answer:

Benefits of well-Designed projects : GCC vs Clang

GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) and Clang are two of the most prominent C++ compilers in the world of software development. Each has a unique design philosophy and architecture that caters to different needs and preferences. This article explores the fundamental design differences between GCC and Clang, highlighting how these differences impact their functionality, performance, and usability.

The majority of code executed on a Windows PC is developed in C++, so it’s expected to encounter more issues in C++ code.

Recently, numerous articles have highlighted issues in C++ code, and even the White House has discouraged the use of C++ in favor of promoting Rust. However, does this perspective consider the extensive use of C++ compared to other programming languages? In this post, we will explore the fact that the majority of code executed on a Windows PC is developed in C++. What if most of this code were developed in Rust, C#, or Java? Would we still have the same incredible user experience we enjoy today? Let’s delve into this question and examine the potential implications.

The usage patterns of Windows users vary widely, but several key activities dominate their screen time. We can enumerate:

OpenCV: The art of using the KISS and YAGNI principles.

As programmers, we’re often tempted to leverage design patterns, language idioms, advanced language features, and well-known libraries, which is certainly advisable. However, it’s essential to put on the KISS/YAGNI glasses before diving into these techniques 🙂

Why should you consider using the C++ POCO library?

The POCO C++ Libraries (POCO stands for “Portable Components”) is a collection of open-source C++ class libraries that simplify and accelerate the development of network-centric, portable applications in C++. These libraries provide a wealth of features, ranging from HTTP and HTTPS clients and servers, to XML parsing, to data encryption, to threading support, and much more.

We’ve relied on the POCO library for over 15 years to verify whether CppDepend accurately evaluates well-implemented projects. Therefore, this assessment is not drawn from a fleeting encounter with the library but from a thorough analysis of its many versions over the past 15 years.

C++ always comes to the rescue for challenging problems: the llamafile case study is a prime example.

C++ has been instrumental in resolving numerous challenging problems across various domains due to its efficiency, performance, and versatility. Some of the challenging problems resolved by C++ include:

System Software Development: C++ has been extensively used in developing system software such as operating systems (e.g., Windows, Linux), device drivers, and embedded systems due to its low-level capabilities and ability to interact closely with hardware.
Game Development: C++ is widely employed in the game development industry to create high-performance and resource-efficient games. Its ability to manage memory and provide low-level access to hardware makes it suitable for developing game engines and graphics-intensive applications.
High-Performance Computing: C++ is a preferred choice for developing high-performance computing applications, including simulations, scientific computing, and numerical analysis. Its ability to optimize code for speed and efficiency allows for faster execution of complex algorithms.
Financial Systems: C++ is commonly used in developing financial systems and trading platforms due to its speed and reliability. It is crucial in building algorithmic trading systems, risk management software, and market analysis tools.
Networking and Telecommunications: C++ is utilized in networking and telecommunications for building efficient network protocols, routers, and communication software. Its ability to handle low-level network operations and optimize network performance makes it invaluable in this domain.

Interview of NDepend Team Lead Patrick Smacchia at WebsitePlanet

Here’s an interview of NDepend Team Lead Patrick Smacchia at WebSitePlanet, enjoy 🙂

Testing if the newcomer Llama3 is beneficial for c++ developers

AI has become prevalent in various domains, including software development. Many developers leverage generative AI to aid them in coding. Let’s explore the newcomer Llama3 and assess its suitability for C++ developers.

Related to Meta here’s a brief description of Llama3:

Our new 8B and 70B parameter Llama 3 models are a major leap over Llama 2 and establish a new state-of-the-art for LLM models at those scales. Thanks to improvements in pretraining and post-training, our pretrained and instruction-fine-tuned models are the best models existing today at the 8B and 70B parameter scale. Improvements in our post-training procedures substantially reduced false refusal rates, improved alignment, and increased diversity in model responses. We also saw greatly improved capabilities like reasoning, code generation, and instruction following making Llama 3 more steerable.

Certain developers may lack interest in AI generative tools due to their perception that the results are not yet mature. This sentiment is particularly pronounced among expert developers who swiftly identify areas for improvement in generated code. Nonetheless, I believe that for the majority of developers, generated code could serve as a valuable starting point for implementation, refactoring, or explanation purposes.

Tag: software development