C++ Complementary Library
C++ Complementary Library
Published on January 4, 2024.
Written by Daniel T. McGinnis.
I produced an oath for C++ developers. I took this oath two days ago, and I am sharing it with you now. I am publishing this oath as a PDF here so that others may print it and sign it, as I have. In addition to printing and signing it, I also framed it and hung it on my wall, as you can see from this photo:
I am not the leader of a standards body, I am not the founder of a prestigious university, I am not a recipient of the Turing Award, but I created this oath because I am passionate about software development and I take great inspiration from signing a document that celebrates quality and hard work. I believe others may find inspiration in this too. This document won't magically make software better, but I believe that the way it is worded and laid out can create the image in one's mind that there is something higher out there, something intangible which we can serve, not for selfish gain, but for honor and duty.
It is easy to miss the fact that the work we do as software developers is in service of all humanity. I know that there is no consensus on the existence of aliens, but if they are out there, then imagine how they would look at us if they discovered what our technology is like. Do you think they would look down on us, or do you think they would be impressed? Regardless of their existence, imagining what their opinion of us would be helps to show what is at stake here. We should strive to be the best we can be, and if we aspire to explore the galaxy as we have explored the ocean, then we have to put our best foot forward. Hopefully this oath will get you thinking along those lines and excite you with renewed joy and enthusiasm, and remind you that the work you do is important.
If the idea of making an oath sounds interesting to you, then feel free to download the design file for this oath here and edit it. The design file is in .afphoto format because I made it in Affinity Photo 2. I give you permission to modify this file, and you may change the name of the oath or you may keep it. You also have permission to recreate this oath in another graphics editing program, verbatim or with modifications. To be clear, I don't really care what people do with the files of this oath, I just want to see more people inspiring the community to do great work.
Remember, CCL is still in Beta, so the fact that it doesn't meet the high standard set by this oath is excused, as the Beta label clearly states that it is known that CCL is not yet ready for use in production software. This will, of course, change. I am working hard to make CCL stable, and the benefit of having it out as a Beta release is that more people can learn about its development and potentially sponsor it sooner than would be possible if it weren't out at all.
That does it for now. Keep being awesome!
Copyright © 2022-2025 Daniel T. McGinnis