C++Now 2018

Boost and its gathering in Aspen has always been the place for getting the newest and best C++. Or the tricks and cheats to make our ideas and dreams compile, so that programming C++ got a little easier. For the last 20 years, that has been the essence of boost, and it has been loved and hated for it. Lets also talk about the down sites of embracing the language like this.

Between '98 - '11, boost could innovate a lot in C++, it was what kept C++ interesting for many of us, keeping true to its spirit, while C++ the Standard was seemingly taking a break. Then with C++11 and its following standards it was the opposite: the good parts of boost became the standard, while hacks stayed behind in boost. As boost was and is build on some of these, once clever hacks. The hacks enabled boost to do things like variadic templates, before there was such a thing in the language. While these hacks were cutting edge in their days, now they've become the rusted blades.

So lets reflect on what it means to be cutting edge in C++, and how to make sure, that the cutting edge of today is not the rusted blade that cuts you tomorrow.