CppCon 2026

Most C++ programmers are familiar with the traditional C++ facilities for text processing found in the iostream and string libraries. However, std::format (C++20) and std::print (C++23) provide new text formatting tools that are unfamiliar to many C++ programmers. While these new facilities can be very helpful, they can also produce some very intimidating error messages when misused. Moreover, the process for writing your own user-defined types that you can format with std::format and std::print is not very straightforward.

This session starts with an overview of the traditional C and C++ text processing libraries. It then shows how std::format and std::print neatly combine benefits from both the C and C++ libraries to create a safer, more convenient interface. After that, this session explains the steps you must take to write user-defined types that work cleanly with std::format and std::print. You’ll leave this session with a clearer understanding of the benefits of using these new text formatting facilities and how to integrate them into your existing code base.