Plenary: Coping With Other People's C++ Code
Talkat CppCon 2023 · on Wednesday, 2023-10-04· at 10:30· Adams, 6700 North Gaylord Rockies Boulevard·
summary
Concrete tactics and outcomes matter: use Xcode scoped search or ripgrep args to shrink 100k+ hits, add logging or run LLDB expressions from a breakpoint to avoid minutes-long rebuilds, and park hypotheses in a checklist so interrupted work restarts in seconds. Social tools include building testing allies before a large refactor and selling one measurable payoff — compile-time wins, ODR fixes — not aesthetics; a successful pattern is a 150-file PR with a single predictable change that leaders accept and CI catches regressions.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (29)
- 0:00Introduction
- 2:19Adobe speakers at CppCon 2023
- 4:24Legacy code bases
- 9:01Fix-it drive and triage
- 10:25Early career mindset shifts
- 12:34Belonging in engineering teams
- 15:44Code review symbolism
- 17:52Finding someone to ask stupid questions
- 19:16Expert error response
- 21:02Midcareer frustration
- 23:55Why aren't you fixing this
- 26:00Frustration as growth
- 28:47Belonging and team values
- 30:54Purist versus pragmatist
- 33:01Preventing burnout
- 35:52Protecting team rest
- 37:39Parental leave and balance
- 40:32Cynicism and autonomy
- 43:21Large-scale refactoring
- 46:31Navigating legacy code
- 49:17Compile times and debugging
- 51:02Hypothesis notes
- 53:49Discussion orientation
- 55:35Late career realities
- 59:04Legacy code influence
- 1:01:32Speaking at conferences
- 1:04:47Belonging on stage
- 1:06:32Scraping paint
- 1:07:14Chesterton's fence
related talks
52mKeynote: Steps to Wisdom
41mCracking the Code Review from Guesswork to Automated Guidance
44mCracking the Code Review
01h 18mKeynote: Steps to Wisdom for C++ Developers
46mLooks GREAT To Me: Getting Past Bare Minimum Code Reviews
23mDrama-Free Code Review!
17mWelcoming People (and Other Hard Problems)
45mCracking the Code Review