Real-Time Modern C++ (C++11/14/17)

Course category
Training area
Course code
C++11-502
Duration
5 days
Price exc VAT
£2650.00
Additional information
Our public course schedule is suspended until 2023. We can still offer this course on-site either remotely delivered or face-to-face.

C++ is a remarkably powerful systems-programming language, combining multiple programming paradigms – Procedural, Object Oriented and Generic – with a small, highly-efficient run-time environment. This makes it a strong candidate for building complex high-performance embedded systems.

The C++11 standard marked a fundamental change to the C++ language, introducing new idioms and more effective ways to build systems. This new style of programming is referred to as ‘Modern C++’.

This practical, hands-on course introduces the C++ language for use on hosted (Linux), multi-threaded embedded systems.

The focus is on developing effective, maintainable and efficient C++ programs. The course covers C++11, C++14 and C++17 and where relevant refers to C++20.

Overview:
A five-day course that provides a practical overview of Modern C++, focusing on developing object-oriented programs in a hosted, real-time environment. The course covers the current release of the C++ standard, known as C++14.

Course Objectives:

  • To provide a solid understanding of the essentials of the C++ programming language.
  • To give you practical experience of writing Modern C++ for Linux-based embedded applications.
  • To give you the confidence to apply these new concepts to your next project.

Delegates will learn:

  • Modern C++ syntax and semantics and idioms
  • The Application Binary Interface (ABI) and memory model of C++
  • Idioms and patterns for building effective C++ programs
  • Real-time and concurrency design issues

Pre-requisites:

  • A strong working knowledge of C
  • Embedded development skills are useful, but not essential

Who should attend:

This course is aimed at C programmers working in a Linux environment who are moving to C++ for their embedded development.

Duration:

Five days.

Course Materials:

  • Delegate manual
  • Delegate workbook
  • Delegate datakey

Course Workshop:

Attendees perform hands-on programming during course practicals.  Approximately 50% of the course is given over to practical work. Students will be working in a Linux environment.

Program structure

  • Hello World!
  • The C++ build process

Stream I/O

  • Stream objects
  • Stream modifiers

The C++ object model

  • Scalar types
  • automatic type-deduction
  • Brace initialisation syntax
  • Scope and lifetime
  • The C++ memory model

Constants

  • constexpr objects
  • constexpr functions
  • static assert
  • enum classes

Structures and tuples

  • Structure alignment, padding and packing
  • std::pair
  • std::tuple
  • Using tuples for multiple return values

Arrays

  • Problems with C arrays
  • std::array
  • STL algorithms
  • Iterators
  • Range-for

Functions

  • Function call ABIs
  • References
  • In, Out and In-Out parameters
  • Named Return Value optimisation

Structuring code

  • Header files
  • Include guards
  • Linking to C code

Namespaces

  • Problems with organising large code bases
  • Namespaces
  • Namespace resolution issues

Introduction to Object Oriented Design

  • Modularisation
  • Coupling, Cohesion, Encapsulation and Abstraction
  • Object-based design concepts
  • The client-server model

User-defined types

  • Classes
  • Attributes and operations
  • Member functions and the ‘this’ pointer

Initialising objects

  • Non-static data member initialisers
  • Constructors and destructors
  • Delegating constructors
  • Arrays of user-defined types

Objects and functions

  • Converting constructors
  • The explicit keyword
  • const member functions
  • Copy elision

Static

  • Static member variables
  • Static member functions

Building complex objects

  • Composition
  • Nested object construction

Connecting objects

  • One-to-one association
  • Bi-directional association
  • friend functions
  • Forward references

Creating Substitutable Objects

  • Specialisation and inheritance
  • Substitution
  • Derived classes
  • Virtual functions

Abstract Base Classes

  • The Single Responsibility Principle
  • Pure virtual functions
  • Extending class interfaces
  • dynamic_cast and its cost

Realising Interfaces

  • The Dependency Inversion Principle
  • Interfaces as design constructs
  • Pure virtual classes
  • Multiple inheritance of Interfaces
  • Cross-casting

Dynamic objects

  • new and delete
  • std::unique_ptr
  • std::shared_ptr
  • std::weak_ptr

Sequence containers

  • std::vector
  • std::list

Associative containers

  • std:::set
  • std::unordered map

Callable objects

  • Functors
  • Lambda expressions
  • Callable objects
  • std::function

Principles of concurrency

  • Concurrency vs Parallelism
  • Simulating parallelism
  • Scheduling methodologies

Threading

  • Creating threads
  • Joining and detaching threads
  • Accessing the underlying OS

Mutual exclusion

  • Race conditions
  • Mutexes
  • The Scope-locked Idiom

Thread synchronisation

  • Condition variables
  • The Guarded Suspension pattern

Asynchronous tasks

  • Deferred synchronous calls
  • Promises and futures
  • Packaged tasks
  • std::async()