Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
https://cppcon.org
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Adventures with C++ Legacy Codebases: Tales of Incremental Improvement - Roth Michaels - CppCon 2024
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An experience report with tips and tricks for how to make incremental improvements to legacy code and how to prepare C++ code for reuse that has deep dependencies in legacy codebases. We will study real world examples from the merger of three companies all with 20+ year old C++ codebases.
The first part of the talk will cover techniques for making incremental changes to a large legacy C++ codebase. Adopting static analysis and runtime sanitizers, adding test coverage, updating conventions and style, using modern idioms, deprecating and removing legacy code, and fixing undefined behavior all comes with a cost. We will look at practical techniques for making incremental change in these areas without breaking the bank.
In the second part of the talk we will cover the challenges involved with sharing and reusing C++ code from a large legacy codebase and pragmatic techniques for sharing code. Examples will cover easy to extract pieces of code to libraries with deep legacy dependencies. Techniques will range from source code sharing, to hiding behind a DLL boundary, and methods that fall in between.
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Slides: github.com/CppCon/CppCon2024/blob/main/Presentations/Adventures_With_Legacy_Codebases.pdf
Sponsored by JetBrains: jetbrains.com/clion
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Roth Michaels
Roth Michaels is a Principal Software Engineer at Native Instruments, an industry leader in real-time audio software for music production and broadcast/film post-production. In his current role he is involved with software architecture and bringing together three merged engineering organizations and legacy codebases: Brainworx, iZotope, and Native Instruments. He also supports the Audio Research team to help accelerate moving research to productization and developing fast prototyping tools for product teams. Before merging with Native Instruments, when he joined iZotope, Roth was the lead library designer of a new internal cross-platform "Glass", part of which is now available as open-source. More recently in his former role as Mix/Master Software Architect, Roth helped develop the reference implementation to move iZotope's products to subscription and led the team that launched the company’s first SaaS offering for music producers. Roth studied music composition at Brandeis University and continued his studies in the Dartmouth Digital Musics program. Roth began his career in software development writing software for his own compositions, and the works of other composers and artists, and teaching MaxMSP to composers and musicians; both private instruction and designing university courses. Before joining iZotope, he was working as a consultant for small startups working on mobile applications specializing in location services and Bluetooth.
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CppCon is the annual, week-long face-to-face gathering for the entire C++ community. The conference is organized by the C++ community for the community. You will enjoy inspirational talks and a friendly atmosphere designed to help attendees learn from each other, meet interesting people, and generally have a stimulating experience. Taking place this year in Aurora, Colorado, near the Denver airport, and including multiple diverse tracks, the conference will appeal to anyone from C++ novices to experts.
Annual CppCon Conference - cppcon.org
linkedin.com/company/cppcon
https://x.com/cppcon
facebook.com/CppConference
reddit.com/r/cppcon
https://mastodon.social/@CppCon
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Videos Filmed & Edited by Bash Films: BashFilms.com
YouTube Channel Managed by Digital Medium Ltd: events.digital-medium.co.uk
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#cppcode #cpp #cplusplus #cppcon #cppprogramming #cplusplusprogramming #softwaredevelopment #softwareengineering #coding #code #technology #technews #programming #programmer
https://cppcon.org
---
Adventures with C++ Legacy Codebases: Tales of Incremental Improvement - Roth Michaels - CppCon 2024
---
An experience report with tips and tricks for how to make incremental improvements to legacy code and how to prepare C++ code for reuse that has deep dependencies in legacy codebases. We will study real world examples from the merger of three companies all with 20+ year old C++ codebases.
The first part of the talk will cover techniques for making incremental changes to a large legacy C++ codebase. Adopting static analysis and runtime sanitizers, adding test coverage, updating conventions and style, using modern idioms, deprecating and removing legacy code, and fixing undefined behavior all comes with a cost. We will look at practical techniques for making incremental change in these areas without breaking the bank.
In the second part of the talk we will cover the challenges involved with sharing and reusing C++ code from a large legacy codebase and pragmatic techniques for sharing code. Examples will cover easy to extract pieces of code to libraries with deep legacy dependencies. Techniques will range from source code sharing, to hiding behind a DLL boundary, and methods that fall in between.
---
Slides: github.com/CppCon/CppCon2024/blob/main/Presentations/Adventures_With_Legacy_Codebases.pdf
Sponsored by JetBrains: jetbrains.com/clion
---
Roth Michaels
Roth Michaels is a Principal Software Engineer at Native Instruments, an industry leader in real-time audio software for music production and broadcast/film post-production. In his current role he is involved with software architecture and bringing together three merged engineering organizations and legacy codebases: Brainworx, iZotope, and Native Instruments. He also supports the Audio Research team to help accelerate moving research to productization and developing fast prototyping tools for product teams. Before merging with Native Instruments, when he joined iZotope, Roth was the lead library designer of a new internal cross-platform "Glass", part of which is now available as open-source. More recently in his former role as Mix/Master Software Architect, Roth helped develop the reference implementation to move iZotope's products to subscription and led the team that launched the company’s first SaaS offering for music producers. Roth studied music composition at Brandeis University and continued his studies in the Dartmouth Digital Musics program. Roth began his career in software development writing software for his own compositions, and the works of other composers and artists, and teaching MaxMSP to composers and musicians; both private instruction and designing university courses. Before joining iZotope, he was working as a consultant for small startups working on mobile applications specializing in location services and Bluetooth.
---
CppCon is the annual, week-long face-to-face gathering for the entire C++ community. The conference is organized by the C++ community for the community. You will enjoy inspirational talks and a friendly atmosphere designed to help attendees learn from each other, meet interesting people, and generally have a stimulating experience. Taking place this year in Aurora, Colorado, near the Denver airport, and including multiple diverse tracks, the conference will appeal to anyone from C++ novices to experts.
Annual CppCon Conference - cppcon.org
linkedin.com/company/cppcon
https://x.com/cppcon
facebook.com/CppConference
reddit.com/r/cppcon
https://mastodon.social/@CppCon
---
Videos Filmed & Edited by Bash Films: BashFilms.com
YouTube Channel Managed by Digital Medium Ltd: events.digital-medium.co.uk
---
#cppcode #cpp #cplusplus #cppcon #cppprogramming #cplusplusprogramming #softwaredevelopment #softwareengineering #coding #code #technology #technews #programming #programmer
