Contracts, Safety, and the Art of Cat Herding - Timur Doumler - C++ on Sea 2025

https://cpponsea.uk​ --- Contracts, Safety, and the Art of Cat Herding - Timur Doumler - C++ on Sea 2025 --- In recent years, we have seen a strong push to make C++ "safer" and "more secure". Several efforts are under way: contract assertions and library hardening have already been approved for the upcoming C++26 standard, while proposals like profiles and borrow checking are still in development. Within the C++ standardisation process, we face significant obstacles: the infamously slow and challenging ISO process, the absence of a holistic strategy, and the lack of a shared understanding of what "safety" even means. Meanwhile, outside of the standardisation process, vendors are rolling out their own bespoke tools to fill the gap and solve real-world problems. In this keynote, we take a step back and examine how all these pieces fit into the bigger picture. What is a "correct" program, and what does it have to do with Contracts? Why are "safety" and "security" not the same thing as removing undefined behaviour? And how do all these different concepts connect? We'll introduce a framework for reasoning about incorrect programs and present a holistic, actionable strategy for systematically mitigating undefined behaviour throughout the entire C++ language. Along the way, we also explore the human side of standardisation – the art of helping fiercely opinionated engineers find common ground – and what we can learn from it. --- Sponsored by Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/company/val... Sponsored By think-cell: https://www.think-cell.com/cpponsea --- Timur Doumler Timur Doumler is the co-host of CppCast and an active member of the ISO C++ standard committee, where he is currently co-chair of SG21, the Contracts study group. Timur started his journey into C++ in computational astrophysics, where he was working on cosmological simulations. After completing his PhD in astrophysics, he moved into the audio and music technology industry, where he has been working for over a decade and co-founded the music tech startup Cradle. In the past, Timur also worked for JetBrains, first as a developer on CLion's C++ parser and later as a Developer Advocate for C++ developer tools. Currently, Timur lives in Finland, where he is organising the monthly C++ Helsinki meetup. Timur is passionate about clean code, good tools, low latency, and the evolution of the C++ language. --- C++ on Sea is the international C++ conference taking place by the sea, in the UK. Our venue is in Folkestone, Kent, near the entrance to the channel tunnel with stunning views across the English Channel. Annual C++ On Sea Conference - https://www.cpponsea.uk   / cpponsea   https://x.com/cpponsea https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...   / cpponsea   https://vmst.io/@cpponsea Video Sponsors: --- YouTube Videos Filmed, Edited & Optimised by Digital Medium: https://events.digital-medium.co.uk --- #cpp #cplusplus #programming #coding #softwareengineering #softwaredeveloper #code #cplusplusprogramming #cplusplustutorial #cplus #softwaredevelopment #coder #talk