CppCon 2020 Keynote: The Beauty and Power of “Primitive” C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup

Don’t miss out on Early Bird Online registration. Only a week remains before the deadline.

Keynote Speaker: Bjarne Stroustrup

Bjarne Stroustrup is the designer and original implementer of C++ and the author of several classic books on C++. Dr. Stroustrup is a Technical Fellow and a Managing Director in the technology division of Morgan Stanley in New York City and a Visiting Professor in Computer Science at Columbia University.

Conference speakers tend to focus on novel, clever, and advanced features of C++. In contrast, in his keynote, The Beauty and Power of “Primitive” C++, Bjarne will look at addressing relatively simple problems in relatively simple ways under severe constraints of performance, ease of use, and reliability

From his talk’s description:

This is an exploration of a design space close to the hardware and of the use of C++ in that space, rather than a standards proposal or the presentation of a mature tool chain. And, no, by “primitive”, I don’t mean “old-fashioned, C-like” code; some of the general techniques are old, but some of the code requires C++17 and much could be done better given features we are unlikely to get even in C++23.

Going Online

CppCon 2020 will be following the lead of other C++ events, such as C++ on Sea, and will be held entirely online.

Bjarne Stroustrup

The organizers feel that a “online” conference in 2020 is the best way for us to provide the community with content consistent with the quality standard that we’ve set for the past six years.

Many details are still being determined, but we do know that the conference will be a multi-track conference filled with sessions from C++ experts like those from previous years. In addition to the dedicated Back to Basics Track, we are introducing a dedicated Embedded Track.

We’ll be using online conferencing software that helps us capture the “hallway-track” experience that has made attending CppCon one of the most anticipated C++ events of the year. Attendees will be able to meet and chat with other attendees, speakers, and exhibitors.

The sessions will be during the scheduled days of the conference (September 14 – 18) from 09:00 to 15:00 Aurora time (08:00 – 14:00 West Coast | 11:00 – 17:00 East Coast | 16:00 – 22:00 CET). Sessions will feature live Q&A from attendees.

Conference registration is available now with an early bird rate of $200 until August 5th.

Dates and times of the pre-/post-conference classes are still being coordinated with class instructors and we’ll update the website with this information as soon as we can.

We’ll update the website with details as they are determined, but if you have specific questions, they can be addressed to info@cppcon.org.

CppCon 2020 Call for Submissions

CppCon is the annual, week-long face-to-face gathering for the entire C++ community. The conference is organized by the C++ community for the community and so we invite you to present. The conference regular program consists of five days of sixty minute sessions.

Given the current situation regarding COVID-19, we feel it is best to be totally transparent with our planning process. We are closely monitoring the news regarding restrictions on travel and large gatherings. It takes about 9-12 months of planning for each conference and given that we do not know the situation in September, we are moving forward with the hope that it will be safe to see you all in Aurora.

Have you learned something interesting about C++, maybe a new technique possible in C++14/17/20? Or perhaps you have implemented something cool related to C++, maybe a new C++ library? If so, consider sharing it with other C++ enthusiasts by giving a regular program talk at CppCon 2020.

The submissions deadline is June 5th with decisions sent by July 27th.

We’ve made a format change to better serve the needs of our community. In addition to the dedicated track that we introduced last year (the Back to Basics Track), we’ve created another dedicated track (the Embedded Track).

For topic ideas, possible formats, submission instructions and valuable advice on how to make the best possible submission, see the Submissions page.

Note: Calls for Lightning Talks and Open Content sessions will be made this summer. The deadline for these is the conference itself.

Call for Author Participation

Book SIgningCppCon represents an unparalleled opportunity for C++ authors to engage with potential reviewers and readers.

For authors that are able to attend in person, the conference will schedule signing opportunities and panels with other authors. Authors can submit session proposals for the Main Program and/or Open Content sessions.

Book SigningEven for authors that cannot attend in person, the conference is an opportunity for exposure by working with authors to have their hard copy books available for sale at the conference and/or having special attendee discounts for ebook editions.

To register your interest in learning more about author opportunities at CppCon, please fill out the CppCon 2020 Call for Authors form.

Call for Open Content Sessions

As we do every year, we offer Open Content session in the early morning, over lunch, and in the evening.

Audience8

Open Content is just that, open! Attendees and regular program speakers alike can propose sessions on anything (related to C++) that interests them. These might feature a single facilitator leading a room through an exercise, activity or demo, a panel of 3-5 people taking questions from the room, a “hackathon” on a specific project, or an open conversation among the whole room. The projector is available for slides or public note taking.

Open Content is designed for flexibility so that a “Birds of a Feather” talk may be proposed even after the conference has begun. A speaker who gets a lot of post-talk questions may agree to host a Q&A session in the Open Content time. An attendee inspired by a session may host a session to explore a topic further or start on a group implementation of something.

Anyone can submit an open content session, you don’t need to be a conference speaker (or even a registered attendee). To submit, visit our Open Content Submissions page.

These sessions will be open in another way too – Open Content does not require conference registration. That’s right, everyone who is in the area is welcome to come and join us for all the early morning/lunch/evening sessions, including proposing or leading a session. This is part of our goal to be an inclusive conference for the entire C++ community.

Free Friday

All CppCon 2019 events on Friday, September 20th, do not require conference registration. That’s right, just like all our evening sessions (except ones involving food–the dinners and reception), all Friday sessions are open to the public without a conference registration. This includes talks by some of our popular speakers.

#include<C++> Sponsorships

#include<C++> is accepting applications for sponsorship to CppCon 2019.

Sponsorships will cover registration, travel, accommodation, and both the Meet the Speakers Banquet and the #include<C++> Celebration Dinner.

Applications are open through August 16th, to any candidate from an under-represented background with regard to the usual CppCon attendees.

The sponsorships are crowdfunded through a GoFundMe campaign that has not quite yet reached its funding goal. Please consider donating to show your support for this sponsorship opportunity.

[Sponsorship Application Form]

[GoFundMe campaign]

 

#include<C++> Celebration Dinner

Join members of #include<C++> for a celebration dinner on the evening of Wednesday, September 18th. Meet other attendees who value inclusion and diversity, and network with some of the most influential members of the C++ community. If you are alone at the conference, be sure to come to the dinner to meet people and feel more connected. If you’re “the only one” from your team come and connect to a larger group and share advice and support.

Kate GregoryAfter a buffet dinner there will be a panel discussion moderated by Kate Gregory, and then there will be more time to strengthen friendships and learn from each other. It will be a special evening – please be part of it!

Note: if cost is an issue for you, please contact #include<C++> to apply for a scholarship to the dinner. Limited numbers are available. If you are able to contribute to the scholarship fund and ensure another attendee is able to benefit from the dinner, they’d love to hear from you, too.

(This option was added to registration late, so attendees that registered early might have missed it. Since it is a stand-alone registration option, just register again selecting only this item.)

You can register here.

Presenter Interviews: Clare Macrae, Eric Niebler, and David Hollman

Over the next few weeks we’re going to bring you some great interviews with CppCon 2019 presenters, conducted by our own Kevin Carpenter.  Each one is a quick look at what you can expect from their talk.

This week we’re pleased to introduce Clare Macrae, with a sneak peak at her talk, Quickly Testing Legacy C++ Code with Approval Tests. Clare describes how Approval Tests can help you get coverage for your legacy code.

Kevin also brings us Eric Niebler and David Hollman discussing their upcoming talk, A Unifying Abstraction for Async in C++.

Join us each Monday for another set of presenter interviews.

CppCon 2019 Program Available

Ben SmithThe program for CppCon 2019 is now live!

We’ll have almost 150 regular sessions delivered by the best C++ presenters in the industry, many returning from previous years as well as some exciting new voices. We’ll have seven or eight concurrent tracks full of sessions containing C++ best practices and what you need to know about C++17 and even what is planned for C++20, including one track devoted to Back to Basics talks.

In addition to the main program, we’ll have panels, lightning talks, Open Content talks, BOFs, author signings, exhibitors, standards committee meetings, community social events, workshops, classes, and some awesome headline speakers.

Most of the program is published, but we are still working a few things, like categorizing talks and a few surprises, so keep checking back.

We’d like to thank the Program Committee, our speakers, and the many professionals who proposed talks which we, unfortunately, just couldn’t squeeze in this year. Thank you for your hard work and enthusiastic support for this year’s program!

If you aren’t certain that you want to join us in Aurora this September, watch the attendee video from last year!

If you recognize someone you know, let them know that you’ll see them in September.

Back to Basics Track Announced

We are adding a new track to the seven existing tracks that make CppCon the largest C++ conference ever held, every year.

This new track, dubbed the Back to Basics Track, boasts some of today’s top tech trainers. These teachers commit themselves to coming up with classes that make the complicated clear and put the power and performance potential of C++ within the purview of every programmer.

This year the conference received a significantly larger number of session proposals, we’ve moved to a much larger facility, and we set a record for growth in Early Bird registrations, so we felt an increase in content in order.

Attendees want to hear what the standard committee is doing and the conference has always had more than its share of ISO C++ Committee members presenting new library and language features. But attendees also want learn about the tried-and-true and industry best practices.  We set out to create a series of sessions dedicated to:

What every C++ programmer should know about…

We think this is important enough that we are giving this track its own Opening and Closing Keynote addresses by some of our most popular presenters. This year the track features:

Jason Turner The Best Parts of C++ (Opening Keynote)
Klaus Iglberger Back to Basics: Move Semantics (2 parts)
Dan Saks Back to Basics: Const as a Promise
Arthur O’Dwyer Back to Basics: RAII and the Rule of Zero
Rainer Grimm Back to Basics: Atomics, Locks, and Tasks (2 parts)
Jon Kalb Back to Basics: Object-Oriented Programming
Fedor Pikus Back to Basics: Test-Driven Development
Ben Saks Back to Basics: Understanding Value Categories
Dan Saks Back to Basics: Function and Class Templates
Arthur O’Dwyer Back to Basics: Smart Pointers
Inbal Levi Back to Basics: Virtual Dispatch and Its Alternatives
Ben Saks Back to Basics: Exception Handling and Exception Safety
Arthur O’Dwyer Back to Basics: Lambdas from Scratch
Arthur O’Dwyer Back to Basics: Type Erasure
Chandler Carruth & Titus Winters What is C++ (Closing Keynote)
Chandler Carruth Titus Winters

 

Many thanks to Arthur O’Dwyer, Back to Basic Track Chair.