Agenda

1. Why do we teach?
2. What are we teaching?
3. Learning and Teaching Resources
4. Tooling
5. Content to address
6. Content to avoid

Why do we teach?

We teach to learn

Class reviews

Why do we teach?

• We teach to learn
• We all make mistakes
• Class reviews

What are we teaching?

What is C++?

C++ is C with Classes

C++ is low-level Java

C++ is a low-level programming language

C++ is a high-level general-purpose multi-paradigm programming language

C++ is a programming language

that offers the right abstractions at the right time

What are we teaching?

• Learning objectives
• Learning outcomes
• Provide a correct definition for C++

Learning and teaching resources

Books

There are very many very bad C++ books out there. And we are not talking about bad style, but things like sporting glaringly obvious factual errors and promoting abysmally bad programming styles.

Resources for C++ novices

Advanced resources 1

Advanced resources 2

Teacher-essential resources

Teacher-only resource

Style Guides

Online resources

• C++ Reference
• Compiler Explorer
• Wandbox

Learning and teaching resources

• Resources for C++ novices
• Resources for advanced classes
• Resources for teachers
• C++ Standard for fact-checking
• C++ Core Guidelines as a style guide
• Online resources

Tooling

Turbo C++

Compilers

• GCC 7+
• Clang 5+

C++ International Standard

• C++98 and C++03
• C++11
• C++14
• C++17
• C++next

Technical Specifications

• A beta branch for a C++ feature
• 10 published (or pending official publication) so far
• Concepts TS + Ranges TS (novice-friendly)
• Coroutines TS + range-v3 (call for research)

Tools

• Debuggers
• Profilers
• Linters (clang-tidy)
• Version control (Git + GitHub)
• Build systems (CMake)
• Continuous Integration (TravisCI on GitHub)

Tooling

• Compilers (hint: not Turbo C++)
• C++ International Standard
• Technical Specifications
• Tools

Content to address

auto

• Code against interfaces
• Don't code against implementations

#include <iostream>
#include <string_view>

int main()
{
   constexpr auto i = 0; // yes, auto, not int

   using namespace std::string_view_literals;
   const auto hello = "Hello, world!\n"sv;

   std::cout << i << '\n' << hello;
}

Technical terms

• Objects
• Base class and derived class
• Member function and function
• Implementation-defined behavior
• Unspecified behavior
• Undefined behavior

The Standard (continuous) Library

auto v = make_some_vector();
for (auto& i : v) {
   for (auto& j : v) {
      if (j < i) {
         using std::swap;
         swap(i, j);
      }
   }
}

auto v = make_some_vector();
std::stable_sort(begin(v), end(v));
// ranges::stable_sort(v);

auto v = make_some_vector();
auto n = 0;
for (const auto& i : v) {
   if (i == foo) {
      ++n;
   }
}
// use of n here...

auto v = make_some_vector();
const auto n = std::count(begin(v), end(v), foo);
// ranges::count(v);

Parallel Programming

Graphics

Generic programming

Content to avoid

C/C++

Spot the problem 1

int main()
{
   auto i = 0;
   auto j = ++i + i++;
   return j++ + ++j;
}

Spot the problem 2

#include <iostream>
  
int main()
{
   std::cout << "Hello, world!" << std::endl;
   return 0;
}

#include <iostream>

int main()
{
   std::cout << "Hello, world!\n";
}

Spot the problem 3

int main()
{
   auto in = std::ifstream{"hello.txt"};
   if (not in.is_open()) {
      std::cerr << "Couldn't open hello.txt\n";
      return 1;
   }

   while (not in.eof()) {
      auto i = 0;
      in >> i;
      std::cout << i << '\n';
   }

   in.close();
}

int main()
{
   if (auto in = std::ifstream{"hello.txt"}) {
      for (auto i = 0; in >> i; )
         std::cout << i << '\n';

      if (in.bad())
         std::cerr << "Non-recoverable device error.\n";
      else if (in.fail() && !in.eof())
         std::cerr << "Non-integral data read.\n";
   }
   else {
     std::cerr << "Couldn't open hello.txt\n";
     return 1;
   }
}

Spot the problem 4

#include <limits>

int main()
{
   auto i = std::numeric_limits<int>::max();
   return --i;
}

Spot the problem 5

/**
 * @brief Returns a non-negative integer
 * @param i Input parameter.
 * @returns i if i >= 0; -i otherwise.
 */
unsigned int abs(int i)
{
   return i < 0 ? -i : i;
}

/**
 * @brief Returns a non-negative integer
 * @param i Input parameter.
 * @returns i if i >= 0; -i otherwise.
 */
int abs(int i)
{
   return i < 0 ? -i : i;
}

Template code bloat

Choose the correct container for C

template <template <typename...> typename C, InputIterator I, Sentinel<I> S>
auto insertion_sort(I first, S last)
{
   auto c = C<value_type_t<I>>{};
   for (; first != last; ++first)
      c.emplace(ranges::find_if(c, [&first](const auto& x) { return x < *first; }, *first);

   return c;
}

1. std::forward_list (singly linked-list)
2. std::list (doubly-linked list)
3. std::deque
4. std::multiset
5. std::vector

Content to address and content to avoid

• Type deduction
• Terminology
• The Standard Library
• Parallel programming
• Graphics
• Generic programming
• Don't refer to either C or C++ as "C/C++"
• Don't teach popular myths

Learning C++ isn't Difficult

Teaching is the Trick

Questions?