
Ask HN: Modern C/C++ tech stack? - chairleader
I am a professional software engineer who has spent most of his 20-year, post-college career in interpreted languages. As much as I love never having to think about pointers or threads, more and more I bump up against the wall of what&#x27;s possible in these environments - I only get to use low-level services like graphics and audio or cutting edge solutions like WebRTC if someone kindly wrote and maintained native bindings in my languages of choice.<p>Enough! It&#x27;s time to take the plunge!<p>From my armchair, it looks like I&#x27;ll need to pick:<p>* compiler
* build system
* linter and other tooling
* standard libraries<p>I am all for standing on the shoulders of giants... I want to build non-crappy software that does meaningful things with the best tools.<p>What pieces should I put together?<p>FWIW, I&#x27;m seeing great threads on learning C++, but don&#x27;t see a toolchain convo. Feel free to correct me!<p>- https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=23380537
- https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=20252926
- https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=16535886
======
davismwfl
Just my 2 cents, there are not "wrong" answers IMO, just tradeoffs and
opinions.

Go with a gcc/g++ based toolchain, it has a few warts as most do, but it is
flexible, well known, documented online and most every library and system
works with it. I use gcc/g++ on everything from micro-controllers to servers
using C/C++ and it works and has good support. I personally still like
makefiles over CMake, but that is personal and nothing is wrong with CMake and
many new solutions pick CMake for their build process. Pick a decent IDE that
makes your life easier, I use CLion for all server/desktop and on
microcontrollers I use either CLion with makefiles or in some cases Atollic
Studio since it is well integrated with STM toolchains.

Last point, in reference to C++ if you are learning/planning to use it, stick
with modern C++ wherever possible, much of what people complain about C/C++ is
really just their own lack of knowledge or bias to what the language was 30+
years ago.

~~~
chairleader
Thank you for the tips!

