Yongwei Wu
Chief Technical Consultant at Singularity Intelligence Research Institute
A research institute fellow and author of *C++ in Action: Core Techniques and Best Practices*, he is a well-known C++ expert in China. He previously served as a senior system architect at Intel’s Asia-Pacific R&D Center and has nearly 30 years of experience in C/C++ system-level software development and architecture. His expertise spans the C++ language (including C++98/C++11/14/17/20/23), software architecture, performance optimization, design patterns, and code reuse. He is dedicated to creating concise, maintainable code and architectures, and has deep knowledge of open-source platforms such as GNU/Linux. As a long-standing senior technical coach, he has provided training and guidance across multiple areas, including C++, software architecture, secure software development, and open-source software.
Topic
The Troubled Journey of C++ Contracts
Design by Contract (DbC) has been around for nearly 40 years, yet C++ still does not natively support it. Contracts were removed from C++20 in 2019. Although the Contracts proposal (P2900) has since been included in the C++26 working draft, it has sparked considerable controversy, ultimately leading to the rejection of the C++26 Draft International Standard (DIS) in the ISO national body ballot. This marks an unprecedented event in C++ history. This talk will introduce the core principles of Design by Contract, examine the design of P2900 and the key points of contention, and trace its turbulent journey through the standardization process. It will also explore a practical question: regardless of the ultimate fate of contracts in C++, how can we apply these principles in today's software development to write more robust and maintainable code?
