HDF5 ♥ C++: Why Nobody Believed Us and Why You Should Reconsider

This talk is for you if zero or more of the following apply:

1. You have heard about HDF5, and you are intrigued.
2. You are interested in high-performance DAQ, and always wanted a C++ HDF5 SDK that was fit for purpose.
3. A (Python) pickle-like mechanism to serialize C++ objects never gets off your Someday/Maybe list.
4. You are passionate about creating usable C++ language bindings for non-(C++)-native APIs.
5. You are just looking forward to another Chicago C/C++ Users Group meeting.

HDF5 has been described as the world's most powerful data container for The Complex, The (Rapidly) Changing, and the Indeterminate. There are bindings for the native HDF5 API in most programming languages and often several high-level APIs. On reflection, C++ stands out as a language where the (published) results to date seem disproportionately modest, given the number of attempts at high-level APIs it's seen and given its importance as a language in the ecosystem. (Hint: It's not C++'s fault.)

In this talk, we outline a fresh approach based on five values: parsimony, idiomaticity, openness, performance, and productivity. Departing from a "continuation of C by other means"-mentality and by embracing C++11(+) thinking, we believe to have created a framework that can rival the productivity and convenience of other offers without sacrificing application performance, and to do so while remaining inter-operable with third-party libraries.

You be the judge!

The HDF Group is a non-profit organization with a mission and a tradition spanning almost three decades. Our mission is to advance state-of-the-art open source data management technologies, to ensure long-term
access to the data, and to support our dedicated and diverse user community. We do this by ensuring the creation of high quality software that addresses user needs and takes advantage of innovations in data
management. The HDF Group is the developer of HDF5®, a high-performance software library and data format that has been adopted across multiple industries and is the de facto standard in the scientific and research communities.

We are grateful to HERE Chicago for hosting the event.