Build times, digital security and stack unwinding

This month we have a collection of shorter talks cover topics as diverse as build systems, stack unwinding and digital security!

This month's event is hosted by Ripple who will also be providing free food and drink. Thanks Ripple!

Please note that we'll need the complete list of all names for the door list two days before the event - so the RSVP will close on the 19th (Sunday).

If you'd like to speak at a future event please get in touch at cppldn.uk/speak.

Here's the full schedule (subject to change):

19:00 "Intro and News" - Phil Nash

19:10 "A word from our hosts" - Ripple

19:15 "How stack unwinding works?" - Javier Honduvilla Coto

This talk will describe the facilities that are needed to implement stack unwinding of native applications such as C++’s. We’ll describe the DWARF CFI format, the roles it plays, and how the general unwinding algorithm works. This talk will be mostly focused on the unwinding bits and not so much on C++’s exception handling machinery.

19:45 break

20:10 "Compiling C++: {fast,correct} you want both" - Marcin Kosiba

C++ is a powerful programming language that enables developers to create highly efficient software. However, the process of building and testing C++ code can be time-consuming, especially for larger codebases. In this talk, we will provide an overview of build tools such as Make and Bazel and explore the various techniques they use to manage the build and test process for C++ code

20:40 "Introducing the Digital Security by Design Technology Access Programme CHERI, and the Morello Board" - Darren Prehaye

This talk introduces Digital Security by Design, a UKRI led programme that aims to radically update the foundation of the insecure digital computing infrastructure by creating a new, more secure hardware and software ecosystem. For more information please visit our website, https://www.dsbd.tech/- This talk will walk-through CHERI, Morello and their potential for the future of cybersecurity. CHERI is a modified firmware that allows you to securely access CPU memory and isolate the memory access by permission. The Morello Board is an implementation of an Arm CPU architecture designed to be accessed by CHERI.- The CHERI Morello board aims to explicitly solve the C programming languages security weaknesses, specifically in regard to unauthorised memory access and the known exploits associated with it. This includes addressing the pointer’s functionality and introducing a new CPU-attached functionality called capabilities. In addition, it makes it easier to identify vulnerabilities in C and C++ legacy code and new developments. Another feature that the technology promotes is the possibility of protecting code through compartmentalisation, a granular form of process protection.

21:00 conclusion

About the speakers

Javier is a software engineer interested in low-level software and reliability.

Marcin is a software engineer at Apple, where he works on build tooling. Prior to joining Apple, he contributed to the development of Buck, Facebook's build system, which was used to build the company's mobile and backend repositories. Before that, Marcin was involved in porting Chromium's C++ codebase to Android.

Darren is a Senior Solutions Architect & Cyber Security Strategist for future technology and a Certified TOGAF 9 Practitioner with over 25 years of commercial experience ranging across multiple technologies and specialising in Cloud and Automation within large corporations. Darren has had Exposure to large global environments, stakeholder management, managing and leading teams on large-scale projects, across multiple industry sectors.