gcc --version
gives you the version you are using and the operating system.
gcc versions can be found here.
Thursday, 4 June 2026
The C ABI
The C ABI refers to the C Application Binary Interface.
This will differ depending on platform.
Platform specific ABI specifications include:
Very important for C/C++ and assembly programmers.
C++ Value Categories
Every Win Joe knows an lvalue when they see one, but there are subtleties.
glvalue
prvalue
xvalue
Recap here (from cppreference.com).
Flags for cl.exe
cl /EHs
enable C++ EH (no SEH exceptions)
SEH (Structured Exception Handling) is a Windows-specific mechanism for handling system-level exceptions e.g. access violations or hardware faults, using __try, __except and __finally. It is not part of the C++ standard.
cl /EHc
extern "C" defaults to nothrow
Explanation: extern "C" tells the compiler to use C linkage (C-style symbol names, no name mangling), and by virtue of defaulting to "C mode" we don't have exceptions (the C ABI has no concept of exceptions).
So extern "C" functions therefore implicitly move from:
extern "C" void foo();
to:
extern "C" void foo() noexcept;
noexcept was introduced in C++11.
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
The Return of C++
The Microsoft C/C++ Optimizing Compiler is making a comeback.
Building an EXE with a decent UI is as easy as this two step process:
1. Opening "Developer Command Prompt" in Windows (hit windows key and type "Developer..")
2. cl /EHsc mySuperUI user32.lib gdi32.lib
Bye bye heavy frameworks which rely on Windows API functions anyway.
High Touch Vs Low Touch Human in the Loop
Some technologies and programming languages are winning on high-touch vs low-touch HITL systems. This is largely due to the maturity of AI models - where the high quality training is happening - and probably lots of other factors - but it's a fast moving target. Competitive advantage lies in the low touch.
AI Obsolesence
Interestingly, the race to build new AI features has made older versions of IDEs (Visual Studio case in point) obsolete at breakneck speed, the requirement to constantly upgrade is such that if you linger on even a slightly older version, the AI you relied on could be non-functional.
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