Every year, CppCon offers C++ programmers a chance to exchange ideas with the rest of the C++ community. With the growing interest in autonomous vehicles, wearable devices, and IoT, embedded systems programming makes up an ever larger part of the community. In 2020, CppCon will expand on its past coverage of embedded topics by offering its first official Embedded Track.
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.
Like the Back to Basics Track, the Embedded Track is part of the main conference program. Registering for the conference gives you access to all of the week’s sessions, including the Embedded Track. Like the other sessions in CppCon’s main program, the Embedded Track will be recorded, captioned, and uploaded to YouTube in the months following the conference.
This year’s Embedded Track will feature:
Ben Saks: “Customizing Dynamic Memory Management in C++”
Dan Saks: “Memory-Mapped Devices as Objects”
Inbal Levi: “Exceptions Under the Spotlight”
Ilya Burylov and Michael Wong: “The Future of C++ Parallel and Concurrency Safety Guidelines”
Matthew Butler: “Modern C++ Safety & Security at 20”
Michael Wong: “Modern Software Needs Embedded Modern C++ Programming”
Misha Shalem: “Practical Memory Pool Based Allocators For Modern C++”
Steve Dewhurst: “Class Layout”
Register here, and we look forward to seeing you at CppCon 2020!
Ben Saks
Chair, Embedded Track
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.
CppCon Academy, the classes that we host before and after the main conference days, has successfully recruited from among the top C++ instructors in the world.
In-person classes that traditionally would require one day onsite will be conducted over two shorter days online; likewise, two-day onsite classes will now take place over three days online.

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