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C++ GOTCHAS IN TURKISH

C++ Gotchas is now available in Turkish, and is going for the impressive
sounding sum of 13 million Turkish Lira. However, if you act now you
can get it from the publisher for only 10,400,000 TL. See
http://www.semantics.org/cpp_gotchas/index.html

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SD BEST PRACTICES

I'll be speaking at Software Development Best Practices in Boston,
September 15-18 (see http://www.sdexpo.com). This conference is a bit
of a departure for me, as I'll be treating somewhat "softer" issues than
I usually do, focussing on the human/sociological side of software
development and maintenance.

My first talk will be part of the "Design & Architecture" track:

EFFECTIVE USE OF PATTERN AND IDIOM
This class presents an overview of the practical use of design patterns
and idiom in the production of well structured, well documented, and
maintainable software. We will also discuss when it makes sense to
abandon idiom for a non-standard approach to problem resolution. The
class is primarily at the design level, although some code examples will
be presented in C++.

My second talk will be part of the "Build and Deploy" track:

SLEEPERS AND TIME BOMBS
Some coding and design gotchas are obvious because they cause
compilation errors. Others are uncovered during unit or system
testing. However, sometimes code that is initially correct can become
invisibly and undetectable erroneous during feature addition and
refactoring. These categories of gotchas can be labeled as "sleepers,"
that are just waiting for a remote modification to set them into
destructive action, or "time bombs," that present no difficulty for a
time, but suddenly explode into a major problem. This class discusses a
variety of these unpleasant gotchas, ranging from low-level coding
problems to project mismanagement. Code examples are presented in C++,
but the underlying principles apply to any implementation language.

I'll also be hosting a lunchtime roundtable in the "People, Projects &
Teams" track on:

WHAT DOES A C++ PROGRAMMER HAVE TO KNOW, AND HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
If you have a hard time associating speed with maturity, or on the other
hand, if this seems perfectly logical to you, come to this roundtable
discussion to share your point of view.

I can only assume that this rather surreal description was manufactured
by the organizers to punish me for not getting my abstract to them on
time. In any case, I mean to engage in a concrete discussion of the
requirements for both minimal and expert competency in a C++ programmer,
and some of the paths by which one can get there. (By the way, even
though I'm hosting the roundtable, you still have to pay for your own
lunch.)

Best regards,

Steve