Back to Basics: Class Layout - Stephen Dewhurst - CppCon 2020

https://cppcon.org/
https://github.com/CppCon/CppCon2020/...
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In C++, as in many other languages, classes are the key feature that supports data abstraction. A C++ class is essentially a C structure, but with added capabilities that support object-oriented programming as well as better type safety, resource management, and usability.

Although some of these added capabilities require additional storage allocation or run-time support, most do not. Thus, the storage layout for a C++ class can be as simple as the layout for a C structure. Unfortunately, too many programmers imagine that classes incur space and speed penalties that simply aren’t there.

This session offers a practical look “under the hood” to see how compilers typically implement the storage layout and member access for C++ classes. It also explains how compilers typically implement member function calls. You’ll come away with a better sense of what using classes actually costs in speed and space. You’ll gain insights that will help you with a variety of programming tasks, including debugging, performance tuning, and working with objects that have rigid layout requirements.

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Steve Dewhurst is the co-founder and president of Semantics Consulting, Inc. Steve is the author of numerous technical articles on C++ programming techniques and compiler design, is the author of the critically acclaimed books C++ Common Knowledge and C++ Gotchas, and is the co-author of Programming in C++. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, where his presentations are consistently among the most popular and highest rated. He is also a member of the advisory board for The C++ Source, was programming track chair for the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC), and was a visiting scientist at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. Steve has mentored and consulted with C++ projects ranging in size from 1 to over 100 developers, in areas ranging from compiler design to embedded telecommunications to ecommerce to derivative securities trading. As a Member of Technical Staff in the UNIX Development Laboratory at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Steve worked with Bjarne Stroustrup, the designer and first implementer of C++, on the first public release of the language and cfront C++ compiler, then served as the lead designer and implementer of the first non-cfront C++ compiler. As a compiler architect at Glockenspiel, Ltd., he designed and implemented a second C++ compiler. Steve was a contributing editor for The C/C++ User's Journal, a principal lecturer at The C++ Seminar, has served as a principal on the ANSI/ISO C++ standardization committee, was the C++ training series adviser for Technology Exchange Company (Addison-Wesley), was a member of the editorial board of and columnist for C++ Report, co-founder and member of the editorial board of The C++ Journal, and a Visiting Professor of Computer Science at Jackson State University. He has also written C, COBOL, and Pascal compilers, was a principal on the ANSI/IEEE Pascal Standardization Committee, and a reviewer for ACM Computing Reviews. Semantics Consulting, Inc. is located in the small New England town of Carver, Massachusetts. Like all small New England towns, Carver has a tradition of citizen involvement, and over the years Steve has been astonished to find himself harvesting cranberries, coaching the high school wrestling team, and serving on the town water commission, finance committee, and website committee.

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Streamed & Edited by Digital Medium Ltd - events.digital-medium.co.uk
[email protected]

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