Effective Modern C++ 42 Specific Ways to Improve Your Use of C++11 and C++14

Item 1: Understand template type deduction.

Item 2: Understand auto type deduction.

Item 3: Understand decltype.

Item 4: Know how to view deduced types.

Item 5: Prefer auto to explicit type declarations.

Item 6: Use the explicitly typed initializer idiom when auto deduces undesired types.

Item 7: Distinguish between () and {} when creating objects.

Item 8: Prefer nullptr to 0 and NULL.

Item 9: Prefer alias declarations to typedefs.

Item 10: Prefer scoped enums to unscoped enums.

Item 11: Prefer deleted functions to private undefined ones.

Item 12: Declare overriding functions override.

Item 13: Prefer const_iterators to iterators.

Item 14: Declare functions noexcept if they won’t emit exceptions.

Item 15: Use constexpr whenever possible.

Item 16: Make const member functions thread safe.

Item 17: Understand special member function generation.

Item 18: Use std::unique_ptr for exclusive-ownership resource management.

Item 19: Use std::shared_ptr for shared-ownership resource management.

Item 20: Use std::weak_ptr for std::shared_ptr like pointers that can dangle.

Item 21: Prefer std::make_unique and std::make_shared to direct use of new.

Item 22: When using the Pimpl Idiom, define special member functions in the implementation file.

Item 23: Understand std::move and std::forward.

Item 24: Distinguish universal references from rvalue references.

Item 25: Use std::move on rvalue references, std::forward on universal references.

Item 26: Avoid overloading on universal references.

Item 27: Familiarize yourself with alternatives to overloading on universal references.

Item 28: Understand reference collapsing.

Item 29: Assume that move operations are not present, not cheap, and not used.

Item 30: Familiarize yourself with perfect forwarding failure cases.

Item 31: Avoid default capture modes.

Item 32: Use init capture to move objects into closures.

Item 33: Use decltype on auto&& parameters to std::forward them.

Item 34: Prefer lambdas to std::bind.

Item 35: Prefer task-based programming to thread-based.

Item 36: Specify std::launch::async if asynchronicity is essential.

Item 37: Make std::threads unjoinable on all paths.

Item 38: Be aware of varying thread handle destructor behavior.

Item 39: Consider void futures for one-shot event communication.

Item 40: Use std::atomic for concurrency, volatile for special memory.

Item 41: Consider pass by value for copyable parameters that are cheap to move and always copied.

Item 42: Consider emplacement instead of insertion.