Fun with C++

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I have spent the past couple of days knocking together the start of a small 2D gaming library in C++. Pretty much wrapping parts of SDL to make them more C++ like. I have to admit it has been great fun. It has been a while since I said that about C++

I have probably said it many times but C++11 has been a huge change and the alterations C++14 makes look like they will make things even easier. Sure there are still things needed such as a module systems but the feel of it is a lot more modern. If you have not spent time with C++ in the past couple of years then you will probably be presently surprised with the changes.

Thanks to clang we have competition in how fast things compile and that is benefiting us all plus the relentless drive in performance increases of hardware, yes I am singling you out SSDs, is slowly making programming in C++ a little less of a chore. Sure I doubt it will ever feel as fast as Java but it is getting better.

Finally I have been trying out Clion a new IDE for C++, it is still in beta and contains a number of bugs but it is fast on my tiny codebase, integrates really well with cmake and includes a range of refactoring tools. If they can polish it up a bit then they are onto a successful product. At the moment it is free but and I am hoping they don't price it out of the  at home programmers when it leaves beta and becomes a paid for app.

Another link in this chain is I have been investigating compiling to javascript and building C++ for android all of which look doable, meaning I should be able to target the places I want to be.

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