It's not your mother's C++ anymore. Manual memory management, tedious loops, difficult-to-use STL algorithms -- are all a thing of the past now. The new C++ 11 standard contains a huge number of improvements to the C++ core language and standard library, and can help C++ developers be more productive. In this session we will discuss the major features of C++ 11, including lambda functions, type inference for local variables, range-based for loops, smart pointers, and more. We will see how to use these features effectively to modernize your existing C++ programs and how to develop in the modern C++ style.

1. What’s New in
C++ 11?
Dina Goldshtein
she codes(jlm);
July 2014

2. Agenda
 C++ History
 C++ 11
 Usability
 Standard library
 C++ 14

3. Some History
• First real standard
• What is usually taught at universityC++98
• Bug fixes
C++03
• Smart pointers
• Regexes
• Hashmap and the likes
C++TR1
• We’ll learn today
C++11
• Minor language enhancements
C++14

4. Usability

5. List Initialization and Uniform
Initialization
struct MyStr
{
int i;
string s;
};
 Before
vector<MyStr> vec(2);
vec[0].i = 1;
vec[0].s = "1";
vec[1].i = 2;
vec[1].s = "2";
 After
MyStr myStr = { 1, "1" };
vector<MyStr> vec1 = {{ 1, "1" },{ 2, "2" }};
vector<MyStr> vec2{{ 1, "1" },{ 2, "2" }};

6. Support Uniform Initialization
struct Settings {
map<string, int> m;
Settings(
initializer_list<pair<string, int>> s) {
for (const auto& p : s)
{
m.insert(p);
}
}
};

7. Type Inference
std::map<std::string,
std::vector<std::string>> m = ...;
 Before
for(std::map<std::string,
std::vector<std::string>>::const_iterator
i = m.cbegin();
i != m.cend();
++i){ }
 After
for(auto i = m.cbegin(); i != m.cend(); ++i){}

8. auto Quiz
int getInt();
int& getIntReference();
const int& getConstIntReference();
auto i = getInt();
auto ir = getIntReference();
auto cir = getConstIntReference();
auto& i = getInt();
auto& ir = getIntReference();
auto& cir = getConstIntReference();
const auto& i = getInt();
const auto& ir = getIntReference();
const auto& cir = getConstIntReference();

9. Range-Based Loops
vector<MyStr> vec1 {{ 1, "1" },{ 2, "2" }};
 Before
for (size_t i = 0; i < vec.size(); ++i) {
const MyStr& s = vec[i];
// do something with s
}
 After
for (const auto& s : vec) {
// do something with s
}

10. More Range-Based Loops
map<string,vector<string>> m = ...;
 Before
for(map<string,
vector<string>>::iterator pi =
m.begin(); pi != m.end(); ++pi) {
pair<const string,
vector<string>>& pair = *pi;
}
 After
for (auto& pair : map) { }

11. Support Range-Based Loops
struct MyArr {
int arr[100];
int size = 0;
void push_back(int e) { arr[size++] = e; }
int& operator[](int i) { return arr[i]; }
};
namespace std {
int* begin(MyArr& a){ return &a.arr[0]; }
int* end(MyArr& a){ return &a.arr[a.size]; }
}

12. Lambda Functions
[]
Capture
List
()
Parameters
{}
Code
();
Invocation

13. Lambdas Shorten Code
vector<MyStr> vec = ...;
 Before
struct MyStrComp {
bool operator()(const MyStr& s1,
const MyStr& s2) const {return s1.i>s2.i;}
};
sort(vec.begin(), vec.end(), MyStrComp());
 After
sort(vec.begin(), vec.end(),
[](const MyStr& s1, const MyStr& s2) {
return s1.i > s2.i;
});

14. Reference Capturing
vector<int> input{ 1, 2, 3, ... };
vector<int> primes;
for_each(input.cbegin(), input.cend(),
[&primes](int n)
{
if (isPrime(n))
primes.push_back(n);
});
for_each(input.cbegin(), input.cend(),
[=primes](int n)
{
if (isPrime(n))
primes.push_back(n); //doesn't compile
});

15. Non-Static Data Initialization
Before
class Complex {
public:
Complex() {
_x = _y = 0;
}
Complex(double x) :_x(x) {
_y = 0;
}
Complex(double x, double y)
: _x(x), _y(y) {}
private:
double _x;
double _y;
};
After
class Complex {
public:
Complex(double x) :_x(x) { }
Complex(double x, double y)
: _x(x), _y(y) {}
private:
double _x = 0;
double _y = 0;
};

16. Delegating Constructor
Before
class Complex {
public:
Complex() {
init();
}
Complex(double x) {
init(); _x = x;
}
Complex(double x, double y) {
init();
_x = x; _y = y;
}
private:
double _x;
double _y;
void init() { _x = _y = 0; }
};
After
class Complex {
public:
Complex() : Complex(0) { }
Complex(double x)
: Complex(x, 0) { }
Complex(double x, double y) {
_x = x;
_y = y;
}
private:
double _x;
double _y;
};

17. Standard Library

18. Upgrades to Current Library
 Significant performance improvements when
previously copying was required
 Internal memory management
 Return containers by value
 Eliminate need to copy elements when inserting
into containers

19. Oh man…
struct _StockThreadParams {
map<string, double>& stocks;
string stockName;
CRITICAL_SECTION* lock;
};
DWORD WINAPI _StockThread(LPVOID p) {
_StockThreadParams* param = (_StockThreadParams*)p;
double stockValue = getStock(param->stockName);
EnterCriticalSection(param->lock);
param->stocks[param->stockName] = stockValue;
LeaveCriticalSection(param->lock);
return 0;
}
void useOldThread() {
CRITICAL_SECTION lock;
InitializeCriticalSection(&lock);
map<string, double> stocks;
_StockThreadParams param1{ stocks, "apple", &lock };
_StockThreadParams param2{ stocks, "microsoft", &lock };
HANDLE threads[] = {
CreateThread(NULL, 0, _StockThread, &param1, 0, NULL),
CreateThread(NULL, 0, _StockThread, &param2, 0, NULL)
};
WaitForMultipleObjects(2, threads, TRUE, INFINITE);
DeleteCriticalSection(&lock);
}

20. Standard Multi-Threading
mutex m;
map<string, double> stocks;
thread ta([&] {
auto val = getStock("apple");
lock_guard<mutex> lg(m);
stocks["apple"] = val;
});
thread tm([&]{
auto val = getStock("microsoft");
lock_guard<mutex> lg(m);
stocks["microsoft"] = val;
});
ta.join(); tm.join();

21. Tuple Types
tuple<int, string, string> httpResponse =
getPage("google.com");
string body = get<2>(httpResponse);
int status;
string header;
tie(status, header, ignore) =
getPage("yahoo.com");

22. Smart Pointers
 No reason to use new or delete any more...
 unique_ptr
 Use when only a single reference is allowed at
the same time
 Passing a unique reference discredits the
original one
 shared_ptr
 Use when you want to share the instance
between multiple objects
 weak_ptr
 Use to break up cycles

23. Unique Pointers
 Passing by value or returning from function
invalidates the previous reference
 This is the most common case
 Any private member
 Factory methods
 Why not simply use values instead?

24. Shared Pointers
 Counts references to find out when to delete a
raw pointer
struct employee {/*...*/};
struct manager {
vector<shared_ptr<employee>> employees;
} bob;
struct payroll_system {
map<shared_ptr<employee>,double> salaries;
} payroll;
shared_ptr<employee> kate(new employee(/**/));
payroll.salaries[kate] = 600000.0;
bob.employees.push_back(kate);

25. Weak Pointers
 Shared pointers don’t solve the problem of
cyclic references
struct manager {
std::vector<shared_ptr<employee>> employees;
};
struct employee {
std::weak_ptr<manager> manager;
void request_leave() {
if (auto m = manager.lock())
{ m->request_leave(*this); }
} // m is shared_ptr<manager>, might be null
};

26. Hash Tables
 Better performance!
 std::unordered_set
 std::unordered_multiset
 std::unordered_map
 std::unordered_multimap

27. For the Mathematicians
 Random distributions:
 uniform_int
 uniform_real
 bernoulli
 binomial
 geometric
 negative_binomial
 poisson
 exponential
 Gamma
 Weibull
 extreme_value
 normal
 lognormal
 chi_squared
 cauchy
 fisher_f
 student_t
 discrete
 piecewise_constant
 piecewise_linear

28. More Goodies in Future C++14
 Generic lambda functions
auto lambda = [](auto x, auto y) {
return x + y;
};
 Return-type inference
auto foo(int i) {
if (i == 1) return i; // return int
else return foo(i - 1) + i;
}
 STL enhancements:
 Shared mutexes and locking
 Tuple addressing via type

29. More Stuff You Should Know
 Templates
 STL algorithms
 Rvalue references and move constructors
 Variadic templates

30. Summary
 C++ History
 C++ 11
 Usability
 Standard library
 C++ 14

31. Questions?

32. Exercise
 Modernize some real open-source code!
 Download code from here:
http://bit.ly/1ryNgji
 Go crazy!