In this week’s instructor interview, Kevin Carpenter welcomes Phil Nash for a discussion of his CppCon Academy class, Accelerated TDD: For More Productive C++ . Phil shares the origin story of Catch, the popular testing framework that he authored to support better testing in C++. Kevin has taken a previous CppCon Academy class on testing with Phil. Phil explains that he focuses less on what TDD is (which can be explained in five minutes using one slide) and more on how to apply and get the benefits of TDD in real-world code bases.
Phil also chairs the C++ on Sea conference, which was held earlier this year as an online event using Remo (the same platform that CppCon 2020 will use). He discusses the challenges of an online event and the rationale behind use of Remo for C++ on Sea. As Phil is co-chair of this year’s CppCon we will benefit from his prior experience organizing a conference on Remo.
Kevin and Phil also discuss the two Main Program sessions that Phil will be giving this year. One is a must-see for anyone that isn’t taking the TDD class and the other is on C++ paradigms.
Watch this space for more interviews with Kevin and CppCon presenters.
Between the session proposal submitters and the Program Committee reviewers there are literally hundreds of people that work to bring you the best possible program of C++ content every year at CppCon. We think it is the best program available on C++. But we know that it is not the most important aspect of the CppCon experience. We know that the reason that people take the time and money to attend the conference is because it is an unparalleled opportunity to be part of the best gathering of C++ minds of the year.
This year’s event offers an unprecedented opportunity to be a part of this community. Without the time and cost of travel and lodging and with an easy-to-expense registration fee, this is certainly the least expensive and most convenient CppCon ever. Engage with the best minds in C++ from the comfort of your own home.
We hope that the Embedded Track will foster better communication among the many niches of the C++ community. For desktop programmers, these sessions are a chance to broaden your skill set and learn how developing for embedded systems is different. For embedded programmers, these sessions offer valuable techniques and new perspectives to help you use C++ to its fullest.
Inbal Levi: “Exceptions Under the Spotlight”
Each session aims to present time-tested guidelines that are aligned with mainstream C++ and broadly useful across many industries. This accounts for the lack of any Back to Basics sessions on Concepts, Coroutines, or Modules — all big topics in the zeitgeist this year, but also topics where best practices are still hazy and implementations are still immature. Attendees seeking information on cutting-edge features of C++20 will find plenty of what they seek in CppCon 2020’s main conference program.
Here’s a sneak peek at this year’s Back to Basics lineup. The precise order of these sessions hasn’t been determined as of this post; we may shuffle them up a bit. We’ve also reserved space on Friday for a “closing track keynote” which has yet to be announced.
Thursday, 2020-09-17
Herb Sutter is author of several popular C++ books and the chair of the ISO C++ committee. He is a Software Architect for Microsoft.
Most of us value the experience of having casual conversations with smart, knowledgeable C++ programmers, particularly when a new version of Standard C++ is out. In a year in which these opportunities have been severely reduced by a combination of working at home and the cancellation of in-person events such as conferences and user group meetings, we appreciate the in-person experience all the more. CppCon, one of the best C++ in-person experiences of the year, is needed this year more than ever and we are excited to be bringing it to you.
Of course, we can only do this if it is safe to do so. We are monitoring the situation closely and will hold the event only if it is safe to do so and only in a manner that is safe. We are working very closely with our venue, the Gaylord Rockies, in planning the event. They have selected Vanderbilt University Medical Center as their 
Because we must cap our attendance (we don’t yet have an exact number, we are still working that out), we are looking at the possibility, for the first time with CppCon, of selling out the conference. If you’d like to attend, register as soon as possible. You may be concerned about registering and then discovering that you can’t attend. This is understandable, so we are offering a no-questions-asked, complete refund until thirty days before the conference, August 14th. (At that point, we need to make certain financial commitments to our vendors, but if you need to cancel after that, we’ll apply your 2020 fee to provide a free registration for CppCon 2021.)
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.