Reactors/jim-learns-stuff/jim-relearns-cpp

Jim Learns Stuff - Jim re-learns C++

C++ is a programming language that has been around for 37 years. It is currently the 7th most popular programming language on GitHub and is used to build everything from operating systems to embedded hardware, games and more.

C++ is a low-level language, providing blazingly fast performance with the ability to make very bad mistakes in your code. It runs on practically everything, from modern desktops to tiny microcontrollers.

Jim used to be a good C++ programmer. 20 years ago… Since then, the language has evolved, and so has the tooling. In this series Jim decides to re-learn C++ beyond his basic Arduino knowledge with the help of a friend from the Microsoft C++ team – Sy Brand.

Registration/Live stream links

These events are run through the Microsoft Reactor Meetup group. You can register for these events on Meetup, or catch the live stream/recording on YouTube.

Date/Time (Pacific Time)	Episode	Meetup registration link	Live stream/Recording
8:00am, 5th May 2022	Intro to modern C++
8:00am, 12th May 2022	C++ tooling
8:00am, 19th May 2022	Show and tell time!

Episode 1 - Intro to modern C++

In this first episode, Jim is joined by Sy Brand, a developer advocate on the Microsoft C++ team, to learn about the basics of C++. Jim will be drawing on his knowledge from years ago of both the good and the bad parts of traditional C++, but rather than lead you down the wrong path, Sy will be on hand to share all about modern C++, and they are more than ready to correct Jim’s mistakes!

Episode 2 - C++ tooling

Every good programming language has great tools to help you get the most of it, and C++ is no exception. 25 years ago, Jim first used Microsoft Visual C++ 1.52 which came on a CD-ROM (if any of you remember those). Now C++ is supported by a range of developer tools.

In this episode Jim is once again joined by Sy Brand. Sy is an expert on the cool new features in Visual Studio, and they will be helping guide Jim with getting started in Visual Studio on Windows. If you’ve joined Jim’s streams before, you may remember he is a Mac user, so Sy will then be walking Jim through the options for macOS and Linux (and Windows) developers with the tools available in Visual Studio Code. They will also help Jim use other people’s code with vcpkg.

Episode 3 - Show and tell time!

C++ is a versatile language, supporting everything from operating systems, to games, desktop apps, IoT and more. What better way to wrap up this series with a show-and-tell covering a range of different use cases for this versatile and powerful language.

Once again Jim is joined by Sy Brand, a developer advocate on the Microsoft C++ team. They will help Jim show off some of the cool things you can build with C++ and hopefully inspire you to build your own C++ apps.

Speakers

Jim Bennett

Jim is a Regional Cloud Advocate focusing on building out and skilling communities in the Pacific North West, with a focus on the Microsoft Reactor in Redmond, Washington. He’s British, so sounds way smarter than he actually is, and is happy he moved to Redmond in time to be locked down at home and not see the office he came to work in, or the places he wanted to visit. In the past he’s lived in 4 continents working as a developer in the mobile, desktop, and scientific space. He's spoken at conferences and events all around the globe, organised meetup groups and communities, and written a book on mobile development.

He also hates and is allergic to cats, but has a 9-year-old daughter who loves cats, so he has 2 cats.

You can find Jim on the following platforms:

Sy Brand

Sy Brand is Microsoft’s C++ Developer Advocate. Their background is in compilers and debuggers for embedded accelerators, but they’re also interested in generic library design, metaprogramming, functional-style C++, undefined behaviour, and making our communities more welcoming and inclusive.

You can find Sy on the following platforms: