Mind the Gap (Between Your Code and Your Toolchain)

C++ developers are a hardy bunch. We've survived linker errors that defy logic, debug symbols large enough to qualify as national infrastructure, and build systems that seem to have been designed by a Dickensian villain. And yet, we carry on—stiff upper lip, bash scripts in hand.

But here's the question: in 2025, why are we still suffering through the same tooling nightmares we complained about in 2005?

In this talk, we'll take a brutally honest—and occasionally sarcastic—tour through the state of C++ tooling. From glacial link times and bloated debug info to reproducible builds that aren't and CI systems that cry at the sight of your CMake files, we'll explore modern solutions to classic problems. You'll see practical tips for split debug symbols, faster linkers, better caching, and saner dependency management, all served with a side our collective Stockholm syndrome.

Whether you're wrangling a 10-million-line codebase or just trying to get your side project to build before the kettle boils, this talk is your invitation to stop quietly enduring and start fixing.