void main(void)

Calls, Returns and In-Between.

July 2007

Rich Herrick liked his ranged types in Ada, and missed them when developing in C++. So he rolled his own, and now he has some protection from out-of-range and overflow conditions in his code. Sure, there's some overhead, as there always is when trading execution or compile time for safety, but Rich's implementation does a pretty good job of limiting the cost, and maximizing the benefit. Check out Ada-style Ranged Types in C++.

Posted by Kevin Carlson at 02:46 PM  Permalink |

Herb Sutter kicks off a new column in DDJ this month talking about concurrency—but not in the way you might expect. Before you can even begin any work on concurrency, he argues, you need to figure out which mental space you occupy: which "pillar" of concurrency is defined by your requirements and techniques. Concurrency is one of those areas of programming about which two knowledgeable developers can have a conversation, and not understand a word the other person is saying. Part of the problem is vocabulary; but vocabulary is just surface layer of what can be deeper divisions between philosophies. Knowing the distinctions between the various approaches is a critical first step into concurrency. Check out Herb's "The Pillars of Concurrency."

Posted by Kevin Carlson at 02:35 PM  Permalink |