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36 changes: 18 additions & 18 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ by providing up-to-date best practices for teaching.


#### 1. I will teach C++ as a high-level language.
* Too many courses take the approach of presenting C++ on the same level of abstraction than C. This is severely misguided.
* Too many courses take the approach of presenting C++ on the same level of abstraction as C; this is severely misguided.
* C++ programs are written against the C++ abstract machine, not your classroom's CPUs, and compilers *will* optimize code with the assumptions of the abstract machine in mind.
* C++ allows for arbitrarily high levels of abstractions, with generally no runtime penalty for optimized code, if either inlining or LTO are leveraged.
* [Expressive C++ Coding Challenge Results](https://www.bfilipek.com/2017/10/expressive-cpp17-results.html)
Expand All @@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ by providing up-to-date best practices for teaching.
* Especially over object semantics of languages such as Java / C#.
* Prefer automatic storage to dynamic storage (stack variables over `new` / `shared_ptr` / `unique_ptr` whenever possible).
* Const-correctness.
* Ownership and [RAII][RAII], resource management.
* Ownership and [RAII][RAII], and resource management.
* Zero-cost abstractions.
* Generic programming and how to leverage the type system to provide maximal compile-time guarantees on your program.
* In particular, not doing at run-time what can be done at compile time.
Expand All @@ -30,37 +30,37 @@ by providing up-to-date best practices for teaching.
* [Collaborative Collection of C++ Best Practices](https://github.com/lefticus/cppbestpractices)

#### 4. I will not teach using outdated revisions of the C++ standard.
* ISO rules mandata that the *only* valid standard at a given point in time is the last one. We don't build new houses with electric plugs from 50 years ago.
* C++ has a three years release cadence : by the time the students are on the job market, what was considered avant-garde during their classes will be mainstream.
* It is not necessary to use non-released standards, but it can be interesting to at least look at them - that's the standards which will be in effect when the students are out of school !
* ISO rules mandate that the *only* valid standard at a given point in time is the current one (e.g., we don't build new houses with electric outlets from over 50 years ago).
* C++ has a three-year release cadence: by the time the students are on the job market, what was considered avant-garde during their classes will be mainstream.
* It is not necessary to use non-released standards, but it can be interesting to at least look at them -- these are the standards that will be in effect when the students have completed their schooling.

#### 5. I will not use outdated tooling to teach my students
* Windows : use msys2 with the latest clang, gcc, or an MSVC recent enough to support motion 4.
* Ubuntu or Debian : if a recent distribution is not available, use the packages from https://apt.llvm.org/
* Mac : use a recent macOS with the latest Xcode, or install the latest gcc or llvm from [*Homebrew*][homebrew] if macOS cannot be upgraded.
* Windows: use msys2 with the newest clang, gcc, or an MSVC versions recent enough to support motion 4.
* Ubuntu or Debian Linux: if a recent distribution is not available, use the packages from https://apt.llvm.org/
* Mac: use a recent macOS with the newest Xcode, or install the newest gcc or llvm from [*Homebrew*][homebrew] if macOS cannot be upgraded.

#### 6. I will not teach C++ as an object-oriented language
* Because it is not. By the own word of its creator, it is a multi-paradigm language.
* Fun fact : C++ is a fairly advanced functional language, thanks to type-level computations and some level of dependent typing (non-type template parameters).
* ...because it is not. According to its creator, C++ is a multi-paradigm language.
* Fun fact: C++ is a fairly advanced functional language, thanks to type-level computations and some level of dependent typing (non-type template parameters).
* C++ can be leveraged to study almost the whole history of programming, so let's leverage that and provide nice examples to our students.

#### 7. I will not teach dialectal or platform-specific C++
* No "C/C++" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnWhqhNdYyk
* No C-with-classes : just teach C or Java if you really want to do that.
* No "Java/C++". Hint : if you are writing `new std::string`, there is something wrong.
* No `-fno-exceptions` : exceptions are a core part of C++. They give all their meaning to [RAII][RAII], and except on 32-bit Windows are faster on the happy path than error codes.
* No "C/C++": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnWhqhNdYyk
* No C-with-classes: just teach C or Java if you really want to do that.
* No "Java/C++": Hint: if you are writing `new std::string`, there is something wrong.
* No `-fno-exceptions`: exceptions are a core part of C++. They give all their meaning to [RAII][RAII], and except on 32-bit Windows are faster on the happy path than error codes.
* It's easier to learn to not use exceptions if you already know them, than to learn to use exceptions if you don't.
* No `conio.h` / `iostream.h` / `graphics.h` / whatever DOS-era API you can find.

#### 8. I will not teach outdated software development patterns
* Multiple classical development patterns were over the years integrated in various programming language, either as language or library features.
* [Closed polymorphism][open_closed_principle] : [visitor pattern][visitor_pattern] -> now can be done with std::variant
* [Strategy pattern][strategy] : std::function
* [Closed polymorphism][open_closed_principle]: [visitor pattern][visitor_pattern] -> now can be done with std::variant
* [Strategy pattern][strategy]: std::function

#### 9. I will not teach volatile as a multithread synchronization mechanism
* Long story short : it does not work in the general case.
* Long story short: it does not work in the general case.
* [is `volatile` useful with threads ?](http://cxx.isvolatileusefulwiththreads.com/)
* Use atomics.
* Use `atomic`s.

[cppcoreguidelines]: https://github.com/isocpp/CppCoreGuidelines
[homebrew]: https://brew.sh/
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