Downsides of Starting in Modern C++

This post is not about the downsides of the language itself but those of proposing to your colleagues to implement in Modern C++. When I say, modern C++ I actually mean C++17 but for the most part C++14 specific features also count.

class my_class_t {
    int blah;
	// other blah blah
};

For a simple class like the above, more people expect the following as how the class is instantiated.

my_class_t *m = new my_class_t();

instead of:

auto m = std::make_unique<my_class_t>();

Once the scope of m expires, unless the pointer was moved to another scope the default destructor is called avoiding delete.

Everything’s too convenient

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this requires a different mindset from using the old school C approach to memory management. In some strange ways, relying on compilers, static checkers and analyzers for various facilities reduces the amount of attention paid to the code quality during code reviews.

For all it’s powers and beauty Modern C++ unlocks, I’d urge you to pay more attention to the code you write than ever before. Be paranoid, use all possible clang-tools as possible but also be thorough with code reviews.