Comp Sci 80/20: How to Teach Modern C++?

Boguslaw Cyganek

online
60 minute session
beginner
intermediate
advanced
14:30-15:30, Thursday, 14th July 2022

How C++ will look in the future, and how reliable software will be, depends on how we teach learners today. Please come to my talk so we can share ideas for better and more efficient teaching of the modern C++. Everybody is welcome!

You may have heard about the 80/20 rule, also called the Pareto principle. It says that 80% of the CPU time will be spent in 20% of the code, and so on. Roughly speaking, the point is to recognize that the majority of things in life will not be distributed evenly and usually 20% of effort will be responsible for 80% of effect, or so on. Can we use this rule for better teaching of C++?

My opinion is that with well-chosen 20% of topics, in a period of few months, we can teach students to be able to write 80% of code, at least at the application level. The point is how to choose this “gold” 20% and here is the role of good teachers. Based on many years of experience in teaching C++ to various groups of students, I will present and discuss such topics as selecting the ABC and practical examples for teaching modern C++, how to avoid common pitfalls and bad habits, how to learn from mistakes, as well as how to progress toward professionalism.

Comp Sci 80/20
teaching modern C++

Boguslaw Cyganek

I'm a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Electronics, AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, Poland. I worked as a software engineer for a number of companies in USA, UK, Germany and Poland. For the recent years I have been conducting research in AI and teaching C++ at the AGH University. I'm the author of the recent book entitled “Introduction to Programming with C++ for Engineers”, published in 2020 by IEEE-Wiley.