# Modern C++ Programming
## C++11 / C++14 / C++17 / C++20 / (C++23)
This *open-access* course is directed at those who are already familiar with C and object-oriented programming towards a proficiency level of C++ programming. The course covers the basics of C++ programming and moves on to advanced C++ semantics and concepts.
**Key features**:
- *Free and frequently updated*
- *22 lectures, ~1500 slides*
- Include the *last language standard* concepts and features
- *Practical teaching*: non-verbose, short structured descriptions associated with code
- *Minimal code examples* for showing just a specific feature or issue without digressing
- *Complementary language aspects*: tools, coding conventions, project organization, and code optimization
- *Experience-based*: many aspects, examples, and problems come from real-world cases faced during my work as software engineer
If you enjoy the course or you find it useful, please add a **Star**
[](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming)
## CHAPTERS
| # | TITLE | MAIN FOCUS |
| ------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **1** | **[Introduction](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/01.Introduction.pdf)** | History of C/C++, Areas of Applications, Course introduction |
| **2** | **[Basic Concepts I - Fundamental Types](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/02.Basic_Concepts_I.pdf)** | Types overview, operators, and conversion |
| **3** | **[Basic Concepts II - Integral and Floating-point Types](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/03.Basic_Concepts_II.pdf)** | Integral and floating-point types and their arithmetic |
| **4** | **[Basic Concepts III - Entities and Control Flow](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/04.Basic_Concepts_III.pdf)** | Enumerators, structures, control flow statements |
| **5** | **[Basic Concepts IV - Memory Management](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/05.Basic_Concepts_IV.pdf)** | Heap, Stack, pointers, references, const properties, conversion operators |
| **6** | **[Basic Concepts V - Functions and Preprocessing](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/06.Basic_Concepts_V.pdf)** | Functions, lambda expressions, preprocessing directives |
| **7** | **[Object Oriented Programming I - Class Concepts](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/07.Object_Oriented_I.pdf)** | Class hierarchy, constructor, destructor, class keywords |
| **8** | **[Object Oriented Programming II - Polymorphism and Operator Overloading](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/08.Object_Oriented_II.pdf)** | Polymorphism, operators overloading |
| **9** | **[Templates and Meta-programming I - Function Templates and Compile-Time Utilities](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/09.Templates_I.pdf)** | Function template, type traits |
| **10** | **[Templates and Meta-programming II - Class Templates and SFINAE](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/10.Templates_II.pdf)** | Class template, SFINAE |
| **11** | **[Translation Units I](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/11.Translation_Units_I.pdf)** | Linkage and One Definition Rule |
| **12** | **[Translation Units II](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/12.Translation_Units_II.pdf)** | Dealing with multiple translation units and files, `#include`, and modules |
| **13** | **[Code Conventions](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/13.Code_Convention.pdf)** | Project organization and main code conventions |
| **14** | **[Ecosystem I](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/14.Ecosystem_I.pdf)** | Debugging, and testing |
| **15** | **[Ecosystem II](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/15.Ecosystem_II.pdf)** | Cmake, documenting, and other Tools |
| **16** | **[Utilities](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/16.Utilities.pdf)** | Main `std` libraries |
| **17** | **[Containers, Iterators, and Algorithms](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/17.Iterators_Containers_Alg.pdf)** | Containers, iterators, algorithms, ranges |
| **18** | **[Advanced Topics I](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/18.Advanced_Topics_I.pdf)** | Move semantics, universal reference, type deduction |
| **19** | **[Advanced Topics II](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/19.Advanced_Topics_II.pdf)** | Error handling, C++ idioms, smart pointers |
| **20** | **[Optimization I - Basic Concepts](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/20.Optimization_I.pdf)** | Ahmdal Law, performance bounds, architecture concepts (ILP, SIMD, etc.), memory hierarchy |
| **21** | **[Optimization II - Code Optimization](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/21.Optimization_II.pdf)** | Arithmetic optimizations, memory optimizations, etc. |
| **22** | **[Optimization III - Non-Coding Optimizations and Benchmarking](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/22.Optimization_III.pdf)** | Compiler optimizations, profiling and benchmarking tools |
***ALL-IN-ONE BOOK***: **[modern-cpp.pdf](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/modern-cpp.pdf)** (could be a few commits behind)
## TOPICS IN DETAILS
**[1. Introduction](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/01.Introduction.pdf)**
* **A Little History of C/C++ Programming Languages**
* **Areas of Application and Popularity**
* **C++ Philosophy**
* **C++ Weakness**
* **Books and References**
* **The Course**
**[2. Basic Concepts I - Fundamental Types and Operations](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/02.Basic_Concepts_I.pdf)**
* **Preparation**: What compiler should I use?, What editor/IDE compiler should I use?, How to compile?
* **Hello World**: I/O Stream
* **C++ Fundamental Types Overview**: Arithmetic types, Non-standard arithmetic types, `void` type, Pointer type and `nullptr`
* **Conversion Rules**
* **`auto` declaration**
* **C++ Operators**: Operators precedence, Prefix/Postfix increment/decrement, Assignment, Compound , and Comma operators, Spaceship operator `<=>` , Safe Comparison Operators
**[3. Basic Concepts II - Integral and Floating-point Types](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/03.Basic_Concepts_II.pdf)**
* **Integral Data Types**: Fixed width integers, `size_t` and`ptrdiff_t`, Signed/Unsigned integer characteristics, Promotion, Truncation, Undefined behavior
* **Floating-point Types and Arithmetic**: IEEE Floating-point Standard and Other Representations, Normal/Denormal values, Infinity, Not a Number (`NaN`), Machine Epsilon, Units at the Last Place (ULP), Cheatsheet, Summary, Arithmetic Properties, Detect Floating-point Errors
* **Floating-point Issues**: Catastrophic cancellation, Floating-point comparison
**[4. Basic Concepts III - Entities and Control Flow](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/04.Basic_Concepts_III.pdf)**
* **Entities**
* **Declaration and Definition**
* **Enumerators**
* **`struct`, Bitfield, `union`**
* **Control Flow**: `if` Statement, `for` Loop, Range-base `for` loop, `switch`, `goto`, Avoid unused variable warning `[[maybe unused]]`
**[5. Basic Concepts IV - Memory Concepts](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/05.Basic_Concepts_IV.pdf)**
* **Heap and Stack**: Stack Memory, `new`, `delete`, Non-allocating placement allocation, Non-throwing allocation, Memory leak
* **Initialization**: Variable initialization, Uniform initialization, Fixed-size array initialization, Structure initialization, Dynamic memory initialization
* **Pointers and References**: Pointer Operations, Address-of operator `&`, Reference
* **Constant and Literals, `const`, `constexpr`, `consteval`, `constinit`**, `if constexpr`, `std::is constant evaluated()`, `if consteval`
* **`volatile` keyword**
* **Explicit Type Conversion**: `static_cast`, `const_cast`, `reinterpret_cast`, Type punning
* `sizeof` Operator
**[6. Basic Concepts V - Functions and Preprocessing](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/06.Basic_Concepts_V.pdf)**
* **Functions**: Pass by-value, Pass by-pointer, Pass by-reference, Function signature and Overloading, Overloading and `=delete`, Default parameters, Attributes `[[attributes]]`
* **Function Pointer and Function Objects**
* **Lambda Expressions**: Capture list, Parameters, Composability, `constexpr/consteval`, `template`, `mutable`, `[[nodiscard]]`, Capture list and classes
* **Preprocessing**: Preprocessors, Common errors, Source location macros, Conditional compiling macros, Stringizing operator (`#`), `#error` and `warning`, `#pragma`, Token-Pasting Operator (`##`), Variadic Macro
**[7. Object-Oriented Programming I - Class Concepts](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/07.Object_Oriented_I.pdf)**
* **C++ Classes**: RAII Idiom
* **Class Hierarchy**
* **Access specifiers**: Inheritance access specifiers, When use `public/protected/private` for data members?
* **Class Constructor**: Default constructor, Class initialization, Uniform initialization for objects, Delegate constructor, `explicit` keyword, `[[nodiscard]]` and classes
* **Copy Constructor**
* **Class Destructor**
* **Defaulted Constructors, Destructor, and Operators** (`= default`)
* **Class Keywords**: `this`, `static`, `const`, `mutable`, `using`, `friend`, `delete`
**[8. Object-Oriented Programming II - Polymorphism and Operator Overloading](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/08.Object_Oriented_II.pdf)**
* **Polymorphism**: `virtual` methods, Virtual table, `override` keyword, `final` keyword, Common errors, Pure virtual method, Abstract class and interface
* **Inheritance Casting and Run-time Type Identification**
* **Operator Overloading**: Overview, Comparison operator `<`, Spaceship operator `<=>`, Subscript operator `[]`, Multidimensional Subscript operator `[]`, Function call operator `()`, static operator `[]` and operator `()`, Conversion operator `T()`, Return type overloading resolution, Increment and decrement operators `++`/`--`, Assignment operator `=`, Stream operator `<<`, Operator Notes
* **C++ Special Objects**: Aggregate, Trivial class, Standard-layout class, Plain old data (POD), Hierarchy
**[9. Templates and Meta-programming I - Function Templates and Compile-Time Utilities](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/09.Templates_I.pdf)**
* **Function Template**: Overview, Template parameters, Template parameter - default value, Overloading, Specialization
* **Template Variable**
* **Template Parameter Types**: Generic Type Notes, `auto` Placeholder, Class template parameter type, Array and pointer types, Function type
* **Compile-Time Utilities**: `static_assert`, `decltype` Keyword, `using` Keyword
* **Type Traits**: Overview, Type traits library, Type manipulation
**[10. Templates and Meta-programming II - Class Templates and SFINAE](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/10.Templates_II.pdf)**
* **Class Template**: Class specialization, Class template constructor, Constructor template automatic deduction (CTAD)
* **Class Template - Advanced Concepts**: Class + Function - Specialization, Dependent Names - `typename` and `template` Keywords, Class template hierarchy and `using`, `friend` Keyword, Template Template Arguments
* **Template Meta-Programming**
* **SFINAE: Substitution Failure Is Not An Error**: Function SFINAE, Class SFINAE, Class + Function SFINAE
* **Variadic Template**: Folding Expression, Variadic class template
* **C++20 Concepts**: Overview, `concept` Keyword, `requires` Clause, `requires` Expression, `requires` Expression + Clause, `requires` Clause + Expression, `requires` and `constexpr`, Nested `requires`
**[11. Translation Units I - Linkage and One Definition Rule](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/11.Translation_Units_I.pdf)**
* **Basic Concepts**: Translation unit, Local and global scope, Linkage
* **Storage Class and Duration**: Storage duration, Storage class, `static` and `extern` keywords, Internal/External linkage examples
* **Linkage of `const` and `constexpr`**: Static Initialization Order Fiasco
* **Linkage Summary**
* **Dealing with Multiple Translation Units**: Class in multiple translation units
* **One Definition Rule (ODR)**: Global variable issues, ODR - Point 3, `inline` functions/variables, `constexpr` and `inline`
* **ODR - Function Template**: Cases, `extern` keyword
* **ODR - Class Template**: Cases, `extern` keyword
* **ODR Undefined Behavior and Summary**
**[12. Translation Units II - Include, Module, and Namespace](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/12.Translation_Units_II.pdf)**
- **`#include` Issues**: Forward declaration, Include guard, Circular dependencies, Common linking errors
- **C++20 Modules**: Overview, Terminology, Visibility and Reachability, Module unit types, Keywords, Global module fragment, Private module fragment, Header module unit, Module partitions
- **Namespace**: Namespace functions vs. `static` methods, Namespace alias, Anonymous namespace, `inline` namespace, Attributes and namespace
- **Compiling Multiple Translation Units**: Fundamental compiler flags, Compile Methods, Deal with libraries, Build static/dynamic libraries, Find dynamic library dependencies, Analyze object/executable symbols
**[13. Code Conventions](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/13.Code_Convention.pdf)**
* **C++ Project Organization**: Project directories, Project files, “Common” Project Organization Notes, Alternative - “Canonical” project organization
* **Coding Styles and Conventions**
* **`#include`**
* **Macro and Preprocessing**
* **Namespace**
* **Variables and Arithmetic Types**
* **Functions**
* **Structs and Classes**
* **Control Flow**
* **Modern C++ Features**
* **Maintainability**
* **Naming**
* **Readability and Formatting**
* **Code Documentation**
**[14. Ecosystem I - Debugging](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/14.Ecosystem_I.pdf)**
* **Debugging**
* **Assertion**
* **Execution debugging**: Breakpoints, Watchpoints / Catchpoints, Control Flow, Stack and Info, Print, Disassemble
* **Memory Debugging**: `valgrind`, Stack protection
* **Sanitizers**: Address sanitizer, Leak sanitizer, Memory sanitizers, Undefined behavior sanitizer
* **Debugging Summary**
* **Compiler Warnings**
* **Static Analysis**
* **Code Testing**: Unit test, Test-Driven Development (TDD), Code coverage, Fuzz testing
* **Code Quality**: `clang-tidy`
**[15. Ecosystem II - Cmake and Other Tools](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/15.Ecosystem_II.pdf)**
- **CMake**: `cmake` and `ctest`
- **Code Documentation**: `doxygen`
- **Code Statistics**: Count lines of code, Cyclomatic complexity analyzer
- **Other Tools**: Code formatting - `clang-format`, `Compiler Explorer`, Code transformation - `CppInsights`, Code autocompletion - `GitHub Co-Pilot/TabNine/Kite`, Local code search - `ripgrep`, Code search engine - `searchcode/grep.app`, Code benchmarking - `Quick-Bench`, Font for Coding
**[16. Utilities](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/16.Utilities.pdf)**
* **I/O Stream**: Manipulator, `ofstream/ifstream`
* **Strings**: `std::string`, Conversion from/to numeric values, `std::string_view`, `std::format`, `std::print`
* **Math Libraries**
* **Random Number**: Basic Concepts, C++ ``, Seed, PRNG period and quality, Distribution, Quasi-random
* **Time Measuring**: Wall-Clock time, User time, System time
* **Std Class Templates**: `std::pair`, `std::tuple`, `std::variant`, `std::optional`, `std::any`, `std::stacktrace`
* **Filesystem Library**: Query methods, Modify methods
**[17. Containers, Iterators, and Algorithms](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/17.Iterators_Containers_Alg.pdf)**
* **Containers and Iterators**
* **Sequence Containers**: `std::array`, `std::vector`, `std::list`, `std::deque`, `std::forward_list`
* **Associative Containers**: `std::set`, `std::map`, `std::multiset`
* **Container Adaptors**: `std::stack`, `std::queue`, `std::priority_queue`
* **View**: `std::span`
* **Implement a Custom Iterator**: Semantic, Implement a simple Iterator
* **Iterator Utility Methods**: `std::advance`, `std::next`, `std::prev`, `std::distance`, Container access methods, Iterator traits
* **Algorithms Library**: `std::find_if`, `std::sort`, `std::accumulate`, `std::generate`, `std::remove_if`
* **C++20 Ranges**: Key concepts, Range view, Range adaptor, Range factory, Range algorithms, Range actions
**[18. Advanced Topics I](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/18.Advanced_Topics_I.pdf)**
* **Move Semantic**: `lvalues` and `rvalues` references, Move semantic, `std::move`, Class Declaration Semantic
* **Universal Reference and Perfect Forwarding**: Universal reference, Reference collapsing rules, Perfect forwarding
* **Value Categories**
* **`&`, `&&` Ref-qualifiers and `volatile` Overloading**
* **Copy Elision and RVO**
* **Type Deduction**: Pass by-reference, Pass by-pointer, Pass by-value, `auto` deduction
* **`const` Correctness**
**[19. Advanced Topics II](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/19.Advanced_Topics_II.pdf)**
- **Undefined Behavior:** Common cases, Detecting undefined behavior
- **Error Handling**: C++ Exceptions, Defining custom exceptions, `noexcept` keyword, Memory allocation issues, Alternative error handling approaches
- **C++ Idioms**: Rule of zero/three/five, Singleton, PIMPL, CRTP, Template Virtual Functions
- **Smart pointers**: `std::unique_ptr`, `std::shared_ptr`, `std::weak_ptr`
- **Concurrency**: Thread Methods, Mutex, Atomic, Task-based parallelism
**[20. Optimization I - Basic Concepts](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/20.Optimization_I.pdf)**
* **Introduction**: Moore’s Law, Moore’s Law limitations, Reasons for Optimizing
* **Basic Concepts**: Asymptotic complexity, Time-Memory Trade-off, Developing Cycle, Ahmdal's law, Throughput, Bandwidth, Latency, Performance bounds, Arithmetic intensity
* **Basic Architecture Concepts**: Instruction-level parallelism (ILP), Little’s law, Data-level parallelism (SIMD), Thread-level parallelism (TLP), Single Instruction Multiple Threads (SIMT), RISC, CISC Instruction sets
* **Memory Hierarchy**: Memory hierarchy concepts, Memory locality
**[21. Optimization II - Code Optimization](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/21.Optimization_II.pdf)**
* **I/O Operations**: `printf`, Memory mapped I/O, Speed up raw data loading
* **Memory Optimizations**: Heap memory, Stack memory, Cache utilization, data alignment, Memory Prefetch
* **Arithmetic**: Data types, Operations, Conversion, Floating-point, Compiler intrinsic functions, Value in a range, Lookup table
* **Control Flow**: Loop hoisting, Loop unrolling, Branch hints `[[likely/unlikely]]`, Compiler hints `[[assume]]`, Recursion
* **Functions**: Function call cost, Argument passing, Function optimizations, Function inlining, Pointers aliasing
* **Object-Oriented Programming**
* **Std Library and Other Language Aspects**
**[22. Optimization III - Non-Coding Optimizations and Benchmarking](https://github.com/federico-busato/Modern-CPP-Programming/blob/master/22.Optimization_III.pdf)**
* **Compiler Optimizations**: About the compiler, Compiler optimization flags, Linker optimization flags, Architecture flags, Help the Compiler to produce better code, Profile guided optimization (PGO), Post-Processing Binary Optimizer
* **Compiler Transformation Techniques**: Basic Transformations, Loop unswitching, Loop fusion, Loop fission, Loop interchange, Loop tiling
* **Libraries and Data Structures**: External libraries
* **Performance Benchmarking**: What to test?, Workload/Dataset quality, Cache behavior, Stable CPU performance, Program, Multi-threads considerations, Program memory layout, Measurement overhead, Compiler optimizations, Metric evaluation
* **Profiling**: `gprof`, `uftrace`, `callgrind`, `cachegrind`, `perf` Linux profiler
* **Parallel Computing**: Concurrency vs. Parallelism, Performance scaling, Gustafson’s Law, Parallel programming languages
### Roadmap
1. Software Design Chapter
2. Build Aspects Chapter (e.g. reducing build time)
### Essential Tool
Online compiler and execution: [CompilerExplorer](https://godbolt.org/)
* for code execution: [Add new..] -> [execution only]
### Reporting bugs 🐛 and contributing
If you find any typo, conceptual error, or section to improve, please report them by using the `issue` panel.
## Author
`Federico Busato`
- Twitter: [twitter.com/fedebusato](https://twitter.com/fedebusato)
- LinkedIn: [www.linkedin.com/in/federico-busato/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/federico-busato/)