Modern C and What We Can Learn From It

C is often perceived as an antiquated language that is mostly used for legacy purposes, but many people still prefer coding in C or in a subset of C++ that is very close to C.

This is sometimes labeled "Modern C" and the ideas behind it are becoming more popular alongside other paradigms such as Data Oriented Design (DOD), Zero Is Initialization (ZII) and Centralized Memory Management (CMM).

In fact, many new systems programming languages, such as Rust, Go and Zig, also embody a lot of similar ideas as Modern C showcasing a high degree of interest in these paradigms.

In this talk we will explore how programming looks like with this different approach to C and how it addresses matters such as API design, error handling and resource management as well as what are the benefits and costs of these techniques.

By the end we will gain a better understanding of how these ideas can help improve the quality of our code, what new languages have adopted similar concepts and to what extent, and what lessons we can learn from this in order to improve our own existing codebases and styles of coding.