What Do We Mean When We Say Nothing At All

This talk examines how omitted keywords and punctuation in C++ can communicate design intent or leave readers uncertain. It discusses ways to make code clearer, including const and virtual qualifiers, parameter passing, pointers, and loops.

Syllabus

Intro
Who Do We Write For?
Writing Code is a form of Communication
Reading Code
Well Written Code
Roger Orr's Favourite Code Snippet
Introducing
Saying Nothing Sometimes Speaks
Let's talk about these...
Maybe Unused
How Can You Be Clearer About Intent?
Context
Optional Return Statements
Parameter Passing
Omitting Parameter Names
Is A Raw Pointer Always A Non-owning Pointer?
What Does & Mean? *?
Is A Traditional for Loop Always Doing Something Odd?
Initializing
Communicate
What is Not in Your Code?
Nothingness