Name: [Open Content] Refactoring C++ : Techniques, Smells, and Discussion
Start: 2026-09-18T12:00:00-0600
End: 2026-09-18T13:00:00-0600

[Open Content] Refactoring C++ : Techniques, Smells, and Discussion

Friday September 18, 2026 12:00 - 13:00 MDT

Red Rock 6/7

Martin Fowler's Classic book "Refactoring" presents a list of refactorings (72 in his first edition, 61 in his second, "lots" on his website) and common "Code Smells". These are not language specific, but are very "OO Design Patterns" flavored and are less applicable to C++ than we'd like.

This hour-long session will start with a ~30 minute overview of some C++ specific code smells and refactorings, and then move to an open Q&A discussion format. Examples will include:

Declaring all variables at the top of a function (holdover from K&R C and Fortran)
Nesting all a function's business logic in conditionals in order to have all code paths share the final return statement ("Single Exit is Obsolete")
Dynamically allocating objects when we don't need to ("Don't make so much garbage")

This session is "adjacent" to my talk "Refactoring Techniques and Strategies (A Tale in Three Acts)" but doesn't rely on that material; and is accessible to all developers.

Presenters

Dave Steffen

Principal Software Engineer, SciTec Inc

Dave Steffen completed his Ph.D. in theoretical physics at Colorado State University in 2003, and promptly changed course for a career in software engineering. He has worked primarily in defence and aerospace, and is currently a technical lead at SciTec Inc.'s Boulder office. For... Read More →

Friday September 18, 2026 12:00 - 13:00 MDT
Red Rock 6/7

Software Design

CppCon 2026

Dave Steffen

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CppCon 2026

Dave Steffen

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