I\'ve been programming in C++ for a while now, but mostly things centered around

Question

I've been programming in C++ for a while now, but mostly things centered around the low-level features of C++. By that I mean mostly working with pointers and raw arrays. I think this behavior is known as using C++ as C with classes. Despite this, I only having tried C recently for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised how languages like C# and Java hide these details away in convenient standard library classes like Dictionaries and Lists.

I'm aware that the C++ standard library has many containers like vectors, maps and strings as well and C++11 only adds to this by having std:: array and ranged loops.

How do I best learn to make use of these modern language features and which are suitable for which moments? Is it correct that software engineering in C++ nowadays is mostly free of manual memory management?

Lastly, which compiler should I use to make the most of the new standard? Visual Studio has excellent debugging tools, but even VS2012 seems to have terrible C++11 support.

Explanation / Answer

First, some rules of thumb:

Use std::unique_ptr as a no-overhead smart pointer. You shouldn

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse I
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.