Some Programing Myths Revisited

IMPORTANT
Bien que le titre, les diapos et le résumé ci-dessous soient en anglais, la présentation sera donnée en français.

Even if the slides and the abstract below are written in English, the presentation WILL BE GIVEN IN FRENCH. The presenter can handle English questions without problems.

RÉSUMÉ
We have been taught, or we ourselves have taught, things that we took for granted as being "good practice" in programming. Such things often stem from the "wisdom of the ancients" (although computer science being young as sciences come, some of the "ancients" are still among us and thriving today, and we're so lucky to have them!), and are in effect part of our "myths".

However, being as grounded in the science-that-there-was as these recommendations are, our ideas have evolved, so have our programming languages, and it can be interesting to revisit some of these taken-for-granted ideas.

In C++, particularly in what some call "modern C++", we find a language that is different enough from its forebears to make revisiting our "myths" interesting. How do such things as "goto considered harmful" or "only one return per function", for example, hold as "wisdom" with respect to modern C++? Do they still help us write better programs or should be rethink them under the light of modern languages and practice?

The aim of this talk is to examine what some commonly heard recommendations or advices with respect to programming practice mean in the context of "modern" C++. We will take a small set of such advices, present them in context, show how well (or how badly) they suit today's C++, and try to rephrase them if this seems advantageous.

PRÉSENTATEUR
Patrice Roy

LOGISTIQUE
La rencontre aura lieu dans les locaux de Microsoft à Montréal, dans le local 550 situé au 5e étage.

18h00 Ouverture des portes. De la pizza sera servie, gracieuseté de notre commanditaire Druide Informatique inc. C'est le bon moment pour arriver, manger et réseauter.
19h00 Début des annonces du groupe C++ Montréal et début de la présentation.
20h00 Période de questions et réseautage.
21h00 Libération des lieux et après-rencontre dans un bar à distance de marche.