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Test Drive

Despite the allure of the European Soccer Championship and the summer heat, 19 dedicated developers gathered for our first technical gathering. Seeing many attendees present at our inaugural session, was particularly gratifying for us.

C++ News

A big thank you to Robert for addressing a major demand from our developers’ wishlist by summarizing the latest happenings in the C++ world.

Here are the key points for your reference:

  • Scheduled for November 14-16 in Berlin, Meeting C++ 2024 promises an outstanding lineup due to its proximity to an ISO meeting. Keynote speakers include Titus Winters (former head of Google’s C++ library development), Hana Dusíková (C++ committee member), Herb Sutter (renowned C++ expert and author), and Peter Sommerlad (former professor and software engineering expert).
  • From February 10-15, 2025, there will be an ISO Meeting in Hagenberg, Austria. Robert confirmed that guests are welcome but must register in advance. Note that private individuals can attend such meetings only once as guests (without being member of a national committee).
  • C++ on Sea 2024 is happening soon, with Max and Sergei attending live. They will share their experiences in our next meeting, August 5th.
  • User Group Invitations: We’ve exchanged invitations from user groups in Sweden, Munich, and Prague. Feel free to join if you are in town. Klaus Iglberger from Munich offered to give a talk if he visits Vienna.
  • User Group Logo: Robert presented our user group logo on a prototype T-shirt. If you’re interested in getting one, just let us know.
  • Robert dug up a highly challenging Game Development University Course from 2022, approved by Guy Davidson (known for the Total War series of games) for being quite brain-frying.
  • In the midst of a debate on C++’s safety as a language, Sean Baxter, the creator of the Circle compiler, introduced the idea of a Rust-like Borrow Checker for C++. This concept quickly caught the attention of Timur Doumler and Phil Nash, leading to an in-depth discussion in their interview on the CppCast podcast.
  • In a similar vein but from a different angle, Herb Sutter delivered his keynote speech on C++ Safety Profiles at the ACCU conference, but read more on Sutter’s Mill.

Main Talk

A special thanks goes out to Stefan Trenkwalder, who delivered an excellent hour-long lecture, providing a comprehensive introduction to Test Driven Development (TDD). He expertly guided us through the history of TDD, comparing the two styles pioneered by Kent Beck and Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob). Using a concise example based on googletest, he demonstrated the do’s and don’ts of TDD. The ensuing discussion was equally engaging, exploring diverse opinions on parameterized testing — from avoiding it entirely to using named tables for different use cases and edge cases — and scratching the ongoing challenges of concurrent testing.

Closing

Parallel to the socializing part, a stimulating session on designing an object caching solution behind an RAII interface added further value to our meetup.

Finally, we appreciate the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received on-site. Thank you for this great evening!

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