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0 pointsPaulDavisThe1st9d ago0 comments

> This is allowed by Orthodox C++

I can see no rationale for this whatsoever. It is nothing but syntactic sugar.

> Branmir (of BGFX fame

Appeals to authority don't really work for me.

I've been writing a cross-platform DAW (0) for 25+ years, in C++, and what a game dev has to say about the language in their own work might be of passing interest but not much more.

Being aware of the pitfalls of particular features of a language is an important task for anyone programming in that language. But that doesn't mean that the language is fundamentally broken or that programmers cannot make their own choices about which features to use.

(0) on at least the same level of complexity as a modern game

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4 comments · 1 top-level

forrestthewoods9d ago· 3 in thread

Your level of vitriol and anger at someone expressing an opinion is really weird.

Literally everyone who uses C++ decides which features to use/embrace and which to avoid. Someone sharing their particular preference is pretty normal and fine.

> Appeals to authority don't really work for me. I've been writing a cross-platform DAW (0) for 25+ years, in C++

I love how you reject appeal to authority and then try to establish yourself as an authority. That’s cute.

PaulDavisThe1stOP9d ago

Which wording was vitriolic and angry?

I wasn't seeking to establish my own authority in any way: "X is brilliant, we should listen to them" being countered by "there are lots of people with similar levels of experience with this thing who have many different opinions (I happen to be one of them)" isn't an appeal to authority. But sure, I could have left out the ("I happen to be one of them") part without changing my point much.

TFA is not about someone sharing their preferences. It's a direct call to not use many features, and claiming that to do otherwise is a mistake. Here's an example of sharing preferences:

"I've often tried to use C++'s variadic function templates, but I've found that just using initializer lists tends to be simpler and more readable".

Here's an example of how TFA would put that:

"do NOT use variadic function templates"

flohofwoe9d ago

> It's a direct call to not use many features, and claiming that to do otherwise is a mistake.

I think you are thouroughly misunderstanding the blog post. It's not an aggressive "you must start using this now" thing, but mainly a definition of what "Orthodox C++" is so that communication about coding styles is simplified.

When somebodies says "this project is using the Orthodox C++ style" then it is immediately clear to everybody what exactly that entails (and if not they can google the term it and find the blog post). It's also a counter proposal to some of "Modern C++" madness (like "almost always auto") that was all the rage around a decade ago when that post was first written.

FWIW I wrote a fairly similar blog post in 2013 to describe what our team coding style looked like back then:

https://floooh.github.io/2013/06/21/sane-c.html

(PS: back then I still thought that C++ could be salvaged)

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forrestthewoods9d ago

> Which wording was vitriolic and angry?

“I haven't seen a less useful article about C++ in a long time, and as an HN reader, that's really saying something.”

The tone of all your comments reads as oddly intense imho. Perhaps not your intent. Opinions may vary.

> TFA is not about someone sharing their preferences. It's a direct call to not use many features, and claiming that to do otherwise is a mistake

Yeah that’s fine. The whole piece is an opinion piece on what someone thinks is a good approach to C++ development. There is no value in hedging every single bullet point with a bunch of flourish imho.

In game dev C++ circles nothing in this list is particularly controversial. It’s just writing down what many/most devs already did.

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