How to revive C++ skills.

Question

I was a C++ developer (mostly ATL/COM stuff) until, as many of us, I switched to C# in 2001. I didn't do much C++ programming since then.

Do you have any tips on how to revive my C++ skills? What has changed in C++ in the last years? Are there good books, articles or blogs covering the language. The problem is that most material I could find either targets people who are new to the language or those with a lot of experience.

Which C++ libraries are popular these days? I guess I will need to read on the STL because I didn't use it much. What else? Boost? ATL? WTL?

Answer 1

To sharpen your C++ skills I'd suggest going over some of your old C++ code if you still have access to it. Revisiting it will hopefully trigger those parts of your brain that have laid dormant after switching to C# :)

For libraries STL is good, then boost. I don't think there is too much new stuff going on with ATL/WTL from what you would have known back in 2001.

Answer 2

Just start a project. The libraries you use will depend on your project, but you should certainly read up on the STL. If you haven't used C++ for a long time you might need learn more about templates.

Answer 3

For a start, I'd say try writing code that will work on both a Mac and Windows or Linux and Windows. This will force you to write code that is much more portable than the type of C++ code you can get away with on Visual C++ - there a lot of finer points that are very different when you go cross platform.

I'd suggest stay away from libraries for now if you can - perfect your ANSI C++ game first. I'd also suggest reading up on C++0x - the next standard is due soon and it would help you more to work towards that. To that end, brush up on the STL (the concepts behind it, not the implementation so much) and templates.

If you'd like to try BOOST, go ahead, but you can generally get by without using it. The reason I stayed away from it mostly is because of the way templates are used to do what is needed - a lot of which will become much easier once the new standard is introduced.

Answer 4

Boost - though it, and other libraries were around back then, its only relatively recently that it's taken off in a big way. Google for TR1 and c++0x standards too. You should defintely read up on STL because (IMHO) its the thing that makes C++ special.

ATL is as good a dead technology (don't get me wrong, I liked it and still use it somewhat, but its not fashionable in the MS world anymore).

Something like QT is probably more new and cool for C++ developers, and has the advantage of getting you into all the new Linux and web development that'll be increasingly popular over the next few years.

However, once you start looking at the things you can do, I think it'll all come back quite quickly.

Answer 5

Take some old piece of code and add to it. This won't get you back on top of the latest C++ trends but it will get your feet wet.

At my job I had to add some features to a C++ ActiveX control and I hadn't touched C++ in years and years and have never done it professionally. Figuring out how to do it again was actually pretty damn cool.

Answer 6

I personally find that syntax is where i mostly need to catch up when i wander back to a language i havent used in a long time. But the concepts and what the language is about stays the same in memory.

Assuming its the same with you, i would say its a good idea to relook at the texts you remember to have been useful to you while learning C++. I would recommned Thinking in C++ for getting up fast on the syntax.

STL would be really useful yes. Thats one thing i have found commonly appreciated by all mature C++ programmers. It would be useful to know the libraries that Boost provides.

The changes to C++ world, depends on the changes your favourite compiler has decided to implement. Since you mentioned ATl/COM i assume it would be VC++. The changes to MFC would be support for Windows Forms (2005 vc++) and Vista compliant uI's and ribbon support(?) (2008 Vc++)

VC++ now supports managed C++ -i'm sure you know what that is coming from the C# world - 2008 adds supports for managed STL too.

VC++ is trying to be more standards compliant and are making some progress in that area.

They have introduced lots of secure functions that depreciate the old stds like strcpy and the compilers will also give warnings if you use the old fns.

VC++2005 also has something called function attributes, which it uses to describe the parameters so that it can do more checking on the inputs you pass in and statically flag a warning if it sees soething amiss. Usefuli would say though our shop has not progressed to using the 2005 compiler.

MSDN has the list of breaking changes for each releases. Oh & Support for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, and Windows NT 4.0 has been removed from 2005 version of VC++. Additionally the core libraries you required till now (CRT, ATL, MFC etc) now support a new deployment model which makes them shared side sy side assemblies and requires a manifest.

This link should get you going - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/y8bt6w34.aspx

2008 adds even more like Tr1 recommendations, more optimizning compiler, parallel compilation(/mp), support for new processor architectures etc. Open Mp support has also been enhanced in one of these versions is what i remember.

Again refer MSDN - thats the suthentic source for all the answers.

Good luck.

Answer 7

I was in a similar situation: switched from C++ to C# in 2005 and then switched back to C++ in 2007. I can't say C++ universe really changed in those 2 years. The most crucial thing was to regain my memory-management instincts, but that can only be done by practicing.

Now that you have both C++ and .NET under your belt you might want to study C++ CLI a bit (new incarnation of late "Managed C++").

As for books, read everything with "Meyers" and "Sutter" on the cover.

Answer 8

Rewrite some of your C# stuff using C++

Answer 9

Definitely read the latest edition of "Effective C++" by Scott Meyers. I would also recommend "C++ Gotchas: Avoiding Common Problems in Coding and Design" by Stephen C. Dewhurst.

Answer 10

Pickup one of the C++ Unit Test frameworks out there (I suggest Google C++ Testing Framework, aka. gtest). Pick a small project that you can start from scratch and try some TDD. The TDD will encourage you to make small steps and to reflect on your code. Also, as you build your suite of unit tests, it gives you a base from which you can experiment with different techniques.