I'm going to a talk by Bjarne Stroustrup. Does someone have a good question to ask him?
You could copy Michael's questions to Tobey from The Office (US):Who do you think you are?What gives you the right?+1 for funny ;)
ojrac
2008-10-29 22:28:09
Nah, that question just proves you haven't read his "The Design and Evolution of C++".
Andreas Magnusson
2008-10-30 07:19:50
+11
A:
As we move into a more IL/VM-centric development world for rapid application development, do you see C++ in the future there, or do you see C++ as more a systems-level and optimized application language?
Paul Nathan
2008-10-29 21:47:00
Actually, if you look at LLVM, you can treat C++ like a systems-level application language but get the benefit of a VM. So I think it's more of programming style rather than actual language modification/support.
Dean Michael
2008-10-31 05:01:32
+1
A:
C++ inspired Java and C#, but their success caused C++ not to take the role of The Language of The Future anymore, as C++ did during the late 80s and 90s.
What drives you to continue developing the language as its popularity is declining, and what is the point?
devio
2008-10-29 21:48:16
Stupid question, who gives a crap about popularity? It is still widely used in several domains, while some languages like Java and C# have supplanted it in others.
postfuturist
2008-10-30 18:47:38
Not sure about "popularity" but the usage of C++ is rising, not declining, especialy in the embedded world.
Nemanja Trifunovic
2008-10-31 02:05:55
+2
A:
Sounds like a great opportunity you have.
I'd ask him a question you want an answer to, and one that only he can answer.
John at CashCommons
2008-10-29 21:54:26
+5
A:
I would watch his last conference before making an interview with him, at least questions section - during which he admitted that template metaprogramming is challenging and almost unnecessary to achieve, and I wonder if he is aware that c++ itself is already such a challenging one :S
His second confession, if I am not mistaken, was about auto keyword; he and one of his friends intended to add that keyword in 80's however C++ committee didn't accept their proposal. you could ask if there are any other refused proposals he intended to add before but will do for C++0x.
http://www-sop.inria.fr/geometrica/events/WG21_meeting_june_2008/ConfINRIA10juin1_stroustrup.rm
Comptrol
2008-10-29 22:07:38
+5
A:
Does he still think "libraries" are always the best way to make a language extensible?
What about better facilities for defining "domain specific languages" or (Lisp-style) macros?
(If he does still think libraries are the best way, what are his reasons?)
interstar
2008-10-29 22:25:36
+6
A:
I would ask him why he believes that C++, despite being aimed at system level programming, never caught on as the language of choice for the kernel-level of an operating system.
XPav
2008-10-29 22:30:07
Faulty assumption. Many developers use C++ in kernel-level software development.
Aaron
2008-10-31 20:37:36
+7
A:
What would you have done differently if you didn't have the following constraints:
- Writing a language that had to be implementable on 80's hardware. (Note: I'm talking strictly about the complexity and memory usage of the compiler itself. The idea is that C++'s niche would still be performance-oriented code.)
- Backwards compatibility with C.
dsimcha
2008-10-30 04:22:13
+6
A:
I would like to ask him how he sees C++'s future as far as supporting more metaprogramming is concerned -- not only static metaprogramming (template metaprogramming, preprocessor programming) but also dynamic metaprogramming (ruby-style monkey patching, runtime type introspection, decent reflection, and runtime type construction).
One other question I'd like to ask him is whether he sees any chance to get C++ compiler vendors and maybe the standards committe to standardize on an ABI.
Good luck with that interview!
Dean Michael
2008-10-30 05:51:03
+1
A:
I am actually at the conference (Software Development Best Practices) and believe it or not, Bjarne did answer some of these questions (including the ones like "why, oh why")
Nemanja Trifunovic
2008-10-30 15:35:40