Being a fan of STL, I've been looking for a modern way of GUI development.
It seems that the latest theoretical ideas were in ASL. At least, that is what theoretical papers on gui look at. For example, Algorithms for user interfaces (2009)
However, the latest change in asl was in 2010. The forums are also seem empty. It seems that ASL is not maintained and not used a lot.
I still couldn't find anything as advanced and generic. What do people use now that fills the gap?
It's been a few years, so I'm sure the original questioner has moved on by now. However, for anybody with the same question, it appears that development has moved to GitHub. As of January 2014, this is not stated on the old ASL website.
Related
I am working on high performance code in C++ and have been using both CUDA and OpenCL and more recently C++AMP, which I like very much. I am however a little worried that it is not being developed and extended and will die out.
What leads me to this thought is that even the MS C++AMP blogs have been silent for about a year. Looking at the C++ AMP algorithms library http://ampalgorithms.codeplex.com/wikipage/history it seems nothing at all has happened for over a year.
The only development I have seen is that now LLVM sort of supports C++AMP, so it is not windows only, but that is all, and not something which has been told far and wide.
What kind of work is going on, if any, that you know of?
What leads me to this thought is that even the MS C++AMP blogs have been silent for about a year. Looking at the C++ AMP algorithms library http://ampalgorithms.codeplex.com/wikipage/history it seems nothing at all has happened for over a year.
I used to work on the C++AMP algorithms library. After the initial release, which Microsoft put together I built a number of additional features and ported it to newer versions of VS. It seemed like there was a loss of momentum around C++AMP. I have no plans to do further work on the project.
Make of this what you will. Perhaps someone from Microsoft can clarify things?
I've found that AMD is still using the C++AMP..
http://developer.amd.com/community/blog/2015/09/15/programming-models-for-heterogeneous-systems/
http://developer.amd.com/community/blog/2015/01/19/bolt-1-3-whats-new/
and there are some forum references where Intel is mentioning it too.
The main thing I see is that we the programmers are finally starting to play with the idea that we can use the GPU for ordinary tasks also. Especially now that the HBMs are coming to the APUs you could do a lot on a relatively cheap system.
So no copying of data to graphic card or main memory, but keep it in a BIG HBM "cache" where it can be accessed "real-time" i.e. without GPU latency.
So Microsoft build a really really nice technology which will become relevant only in next few years i.e. when the hardware is finally "user friendly".
But the thing can become obsolete if they wont advance as others do. Not that something wouldn't work in C++ AMP, but because the speed of change is so big lately that programmers wont risk to start using it, if they don't see some advancements... at least a blog or two per year, where they tested something with it so that you see Microsoft still believes in it.
FWIW we are also using C++AMP in the financial world. very successful relatively easy to code. CUDA is probably a safer choice but if anyone is considering learning AMP i suggest brush up on your basic STL first then read up on array views.
I'm still using amp. Right now I'm making a gpu path tracer (hopefully) for games use.
It seams that amp doesn't have much documentation at the moment or many new updates sadly. Its definitely something I would like to see updated and used more, but it seams dead.
It seems that there is a implementation of rope in my /usr/include/c++/4.5.1/ext/rope (and ropeimpl.h). I compared it with SGI STL and the code seems to be pretty much the same codebase.
I'm not aware of its status or if its functional or not. Nor i am aware if this is super old stale code, or code in progress
in any case, i haven't found any references about how to use it (if functional). Do you know something i'm missing? are there usage examples i can use?
EDIT if you see the cvs history here, you'll see last activity was 4 months ago, which doesn't look like pretty active, but doesn't look abandoned either.
It's taken straight from the SGI code, and is still maintained (I changed it just the other day to fix a longstanding bug) but is only documented briefly with the deprecated extensions.
I haven't looked at ropes since the nineties, but the SGI STL documentation for rope<T, Alloc> is still on-line. Also The Rope Implementation Overview.
I bought MS C 5.0 after first getting QuickC 1.0 (I think because there was some limitation with QuickC that the full-blown C 5.0 didn't have, but I can't recall the details now). This was the summer of 1988 I believe. Anyway, there was an editor buried somewhere on the discs which wasn't the default editor. I can't remember the name of the editor, and web searching hasn't turned up anything. This editor wasn't documented in the printed manuals, but it did have detailed help. In the help docs, it was claimed that this was the editor MS programmers actually used internally at the time.
Compared to the QuickC editor, this one was very esoteric. I remember it had "meta" keys, programmable macros, and lots of stuff my newborn programmer brain found fascinating. I don't think it used lisp for the extension language, but that part of it was way over my head so for all I know it could have. Years later, after I discovered Linux and then emacs, I thought there were some striking similarities between that old MS "programmer's editor" and emacs, but by then it had been a few years since I had used MS C and didn't even have the floppies anymore. But something recently made me remember those early programming days of mine, and I had a clear memory of this editor, probably the first time I've thought about it in over 15 years. I can't seem to find anything online about it.
If anyone does remember this editor, was it just another case of MS borrowing ideas from someone else (I assume that the emacs source code was available in 1988, so "borrowing" would've been fairly easy), or were the similarities just a coincidence, if I even remember those similarities correctly?
And, for anyone that worked as a programmer for MS in the late 80s, was it really the editor MS programmers used in-house?
One of the best programmer's editors from that period was "Brief" which implemented a lot of Emacs functionality. It was certainly used by some MS programmers, but I don't think MS ever shipped it.
I'm not sure about MS programmers (I try to stay far away from them) but there was an emacs lookalike called Epsilon by Lugaru Software. I think I still have the manual and the disk somewhere.
I really don't think this editor "came with" MS C, though. It could be we're talking about very different things. There was an editor that came with MS-DOS that was fullscreen and basically the QBASIC editor without the QBASIC language.
Before that, I used WordStar :)
I also don't know the answer, but I do recall that in the late 80s we used an editor called PE2, which is functionally and visually similar to Kate, but which was miles ahead of the other editors available at the time. I used it instead of the IDE with Turbo C, but I don't know where it came from. As I recall, it had programmable macros and all kinds of things other editors lacked. Could that be it? I don't recall the brand.
P.S. Dang, it kind of hurts to be an old-timer and not even realize it.
Are you thinking of Edlin?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edlin
Was it one of these?
I came in with QuickC 2.5 (2.54, if memory serves), but I can't recall an alternate editor.
I did use JOVE on DOS (Johnathan's Own Version of EMACS)... think I picked that up in one of those stores that sold shareware for a buck if you brought in your own floppies.
I was a C++ developer (mostly ATL/COM stuff) until, as many of us, I switched to C# in 2001. I didn't do much C++ programming since then.
Do you have any tips on how to revive my C++ skills? What has changed in C++ in the last years? Are there good books, articles or blogs covering the language. The problem is that most material I could find either targets people who are new to the language or those with a lot of experience.
Which C++ libraries are popular these days? I guess I will need to read on the STL because I didn't use it much. What else? Boost? ATL? WTL?
Boost - though it, and other libraries were around back then, its only relatively recently that it's taken off in a big way. Google for TR1 and c++0x standards too. You should defintely read up on STL because (IMHO) its the thing that makes C++ special.
ATL is as good a dead technology (don't get me wrong, I liked it and still use it somewhat, but its not fashionable in the MS world anymore).
Something like QT is probably more new and cool for C++ developers, and has the advantage of getting you into all the new Linux and web development that'll be increasingly popular over the next few years.
However, once you start looking at the things you can do, I think it'll all come back quite quickly.
I personally find that syntax is where i mostly need to catch up when i wander back to a language i havent used in a long time. But the concepts and what the language is about stays the same in memory.
Assuming its the same with you, i would say its a good idea to relook at the texts you remember to have been useful to you while learning C++. I would recommned Thinking in C++ for getting up fast on the syntax.
STL would be really useful yes. Thats one thing i have found commonly appreciated by all mature C++ programmers. It would be useful to know the libraries that Boost provides.
The changes to C++ world, depends on the changes your favourite compiler has decided to implement. Since you mentioned ATl/COM i assume it would be VC++. The changes to MFC would be support for Windows Forms (2005 vc++) and Vista compliant uI's and ribbon support(?) (2008 Vc++)
VC++ now supports managed C++ -i'm sure you know what that is coming from the C# world - 2008 adds supports for managed STL too.
VC++ is trying to be more standards compliant and are making some progress in that area.
They have introduced lots of secure functions that depreciate the old stds like strcpy and the compilers will also give warnings if you use the old fns.
VC++2005 also has something called function attributes, which it uses to describe the parameters so that it can do more checking on the inputs you pass in and statically flag a warning if it sees soething amiss. Usefuli would say though our shop has not progressed to using the 2005 compiler.
MSDN has the list of breaking changes for each releases. Oh & Support for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, and Windows NT 4.0 has been removed from 2005 version of VC++. Additionally the core libraries you required till now (CRT, ATL, MFC etc) now support a new deployment model which makes them shared side sy side assemblies and requires a manifest.
This link should get you going - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/y8bt6w34.aspx
2008 adds even more like Tr1 recommendations, more optimizning compiler, parallel compilation(/mp), support for new processor architectures etc. Open Mp support has also been enhanced in one of these versions is what i remember.
Again refer MSDN - thats the suthentic source for all the answers.
Good luck.
Definitely read the latest edition of "Effective C++" by Scott Meyers. I would also recommend "C++ Gotchas: Avoiding Common Problems in Coding and Design" by Stephen C. Dewhurst.
To sharpen your C++ skills I'd suggest going over some of your old C++ code if you still have access to it. Revisiting it will hopefully trigger those parts of your brain that have laid dormant after switching to C# :)
For libraries STL is good, then boost. I don't think there is too much new stuff going on with ATL/WTL from what you would have known back in 2001.
Just start a project. The libraries you use will depend on your project, but you should certainly read up on the STL. If you haven't used C++ for a long time you might need learn more about templates.
Pickup one of the C++ Unit Test frameworks out there (I suggest Google C++ Testing Framework, aka. gtest). Pick a small project that you can start from scratch and try some TDD. The TDD will encourage you to make small steps and to reflect on your code. Also, as you build your suite of unit tests, it gives you a base from which you can experiment with different techniques.
Rewrite some of your C# stuff using C++
For a start, I'd say try writing code that will work on both a Mac and Windows or Linux and Windows. This will force you to write code that is much more portable than the type of C++ code you can get away with on Visual C++ - there a lot of finer points that are very different when you go cross platform.
I'd suggest stay away from libraries for now if you can - perfect your ANSI C++ game first. I'd also suggest reading up on C++0x - the next standard is due soon and it would help you more to work towards that. To that end, brush up on the STL (the concepts behind it, not the implementation so much) and templates.
If you'd like to try BOOST, go ahead, but you can generally get by without using it. The reason I stayed away from it mostly is because of the way templates are used to do what is needed - a lot of which will become much easier once the new standard is introduced.
UPDATE: Once you're comfortable with the STL and start needing to do things that require a lot of code with the STL or are just plain tricky, then head over to BOOST. Buy a book on BOOST and read it and understand it well.
Take some old piece of code and add to it. This won't get you back on top of the latest C++ trends but it will get your feet wet.
At my job I had to add some features to a C++ ActiveX control and I hadn't touched C++ in years and years and have never done it professionally. Figuring out how to do it again was actually pretty damn cool.
I was in a similar situation: switched from C++ to C# in 2005 and then switched back to C++ in 2007. I can't say C++ universe really changed in those 2 years. The most crucial thing was to regain my memory-management instincts, but that can only be done by practicing.
Now that you have both C++ and .NET under your belt you might want to study C++ CLI a bit (new incarnation of late "Managed C++").
As for books, read everything with "Meyers" and "Sutter" on the cover.
The documentation available on the boost website is... limited.
From what I've been able to read, the general consensus is that it is simply difficult to find good documentation on the boost::asio library.
Is this really the case? If so, why?
Notes:
I have already found the (non-boost) Asio website - and the documentation looks to be identical to that on the boost website.
I know that Boost::asio is new! I'm looking for solutions not excuses.
Edit:
There is a proposal to add a networking library to standard library for TR2 written by the author of Boost:asio (Christopher Kohlhoff). While it isn't documentation for boost:asio, it does use it as a base for the TR2 proposal. Since the author put more effort into this document, I have found it to be somewhat helpful, if not as a reference, then at least as an overview.
Some nice documentation on boost including a chapter on asio can be found in a (free) boost book at http://en.highscore.de/cpp/boost/index.html. The chapter on asio provides a general overview and then goes as far as how to develop your own custom asio extensions. Really fantastic effort by Boris Schäling!
First, I've been using Boost.Asio for quite a while already -- and I share your concern. To address your question:
There really is very scarce documentation about Boost.Asio aside from the introduction and tutorial. I am not the author, but this is mostly because there are just too many things to document for something as low-level as an Asynchronous IO Library.
The examples give more away than the tutorials do. If you don't mind spending a little time looking at the different examples, I would think they should suffice to get you started. If you want to run away with it, then the reference documentation should help you a lot.
Ask around in the Boost Users and Boost Developers mailing list if you're really stuck or looking for specific guidance. I'm pretty sure a lot of people will be willing to address your concerns on the mailing lists.
There are efforts (not part of Boost.Asio) to expose a lot of the functionality and possible alternative use cases. This at best is scattered around the web in blogs and other forms of non-packaged documentation.
One thing that is unclear and which will really need close coordination with the author and developers of the Boost.Asio library would be as far as extending and customizing it for a specific platform or adding specific new functionality. This should be improved though but the good thing is it's looking like Asio will be a reference implementation for a standard library technical report (for an asynchronous IO library in the STL) in the future.
I wrote two small articles that could be used as introductions to boost.asio. They are available from my site
NOTE: I have contacted gamedev.net to let them know about the formatting issues. Unfortunately at the time of writing this comment, this resource is more difficult to recommend because of some changes with their website which hide/delete the #include statements + a missing .zip file resource.
A relatively new and very good beginner tutorial for Boost.Asio (which also introduces how to use it effectively with bind, shared_ptr, and threads) can be found here:
http://www.gamedev.net/blog/950/entry-2249317-a-guide-to-getting-started-with-boostasio?pg=1
Note: If you're using c++0x features many of the simple uses of bind for creating a functor can be replaced with lambdas, and shared_ptr/bind are also available in the latest version of visual studio (or gcc which also includes threads.)
When I was searching for documentation or a tutorial this question kept popping up at the top of search results, so it is important to keep it updated as new tutorials come around.
I came along to 3 videos that I've found helpful once you get past the official boost asio overview:
Thinking asynchronously - designing applications with asio
Are you ready for ipv6
Why c-0x is the awesomest language for network programming
And
Thinking asynchronously slides
Are you ready for ipv6 slides
Why c-0x is the awesomest language for network programming
slides
The asio documentation, the one available in boost, is minimalist but very precise, each word is significant. That said,I have learned asio (and continue to learn) mainly from SO.
In my opinion, the answer to 'Confused when boost::asio::io_service run method blocks/unblocks' is the very first step, read an read again until you really understand it, second answer is also helpful.
Then I have RSS subscribed to newest SO boost-asio tag question and to these two answerers:
Tanner Sansburry, the author of the answer above, his answers are always very precise, comprehensive, with references, even beautiful schemas. RSS feed
Sehe (sorry Sehe, only 2nd). RSS feed
With all that material, you will soon be an asio expert !
I was quite curious about that, too but this page gave me some head start. It's in French, but you could use google translate which is pretty readable (I had to follow down this path myself).
http://gwenael-dunand.developpez.com/tutoriels/cpp/boost/asio/
A little late to the party but there's a book out called "Boost Asio Network Programming" (Packt publishing).
I bought a copy of this, read it over the weekend and then wrote a full on server in C++ without much problem.
Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with the book
I stumbled on the following pdf:
http://boost.cowic.de/rc/pdf/asio_doc.pdf