--- title: Why CPP is going to be relevant AGAIN? | daily.dev description: C++26 was finalized in March 2026, representing the most significant revision to the language since C++11. Key additions include a hardened standard library... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/why-cpp-is-going-to-be-relevant-again--p1o0tcdzt twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Why CPP is going to be relevant AGAIN? | daily.dev og:description: C++26 was finalized in March 2026, representing the most significant revision to the language since C++11. Key additions include a hardened standard library... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/why-cpp-is-going-to-be-relevant-again--p1o0tcdzt og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/P1O0TcdzT.png og:image:alt: Why CPP is going to be relevant AGAIN? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Why CPP is going to be relevant AGAIN? **[Medium](https://daily.dev/sources/medium_js)** · 7 min read · 43 upvotes · 4 comments ## Summary C++26 was finalized in March 2026, representing the most significant revision to the language since C++11. Key additions include a hardened standard library with bounds checking (Google's recompile fixed 1,000+ bugs and cut segfaults by 30%), formal contracts for preconditions/postconditions, compile-time reflection eliminating boilerplate, and std::execution for a standardized async model. The piece argues these changes directly address the main criticisms that drove developers toward Rust and managed languages, making large-scale rewrites unnecessary and giving the massive existing C++ codebase a pragmatic path to improved safety and correctness. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What new features does C++26 add for memory safety? C++26 ships a hardened standard library that adds bounds checking to common operations like vector, string, and span, and makes reading an uninitialized variable well-defined behavior instead of a security hole. When Google recompiled its existing C++ codebase against this hardened standard library, it fixed over 1,000 bugs and cut its production segfault rate by 30%, at a cost of roughly 0.30% performance with only seven places needing a manual opt-out. _Teams weighing a C++ to Rust rewrite versus recompiling can track C++26 hardening details on daily.dev._ ### What is compile-time reflection in C++26 used for? Compile-time reflection lets code inspect its own types and generate from them at zero runtime cost, eliminating the need to hand-write or bolt on external code generators for tasks like serializing a struct or generating a schema. Herb Sutter, who chairs the C++ standards committee, called it the biggest upgrade for C++ development since the invention of templates. _Developers tracking major language productivity shifts like this follow C++ tooling changes on daily.dev._ ### What are contracts in C++26 and how do they work? Contracts let a developer state a function's preconditions and postconditions directly in the code using pre() and post() syntax, making them visible to callers and static analyzers rather than relying on documentation or scattered assert calls. For example, a withdraw function can declare pre(amount > 0) and post(r: a.balance >= 0), turning informal rules into checkable specifications. _Engineers enforcing correctness guarantees in C++ code can follow language changes like this via daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@andradei** · 0 upvotes > Very nice! It's good to see the old programming languages getting modernized. > > Rust's biggest contribution was forcing old languages to improve or get abbandoned. **@ambi\_dex** · 0 upvotes > I enjoyed this post a lot, Thanks! I have been learning Python mainly with a side of SQL and a little bit of HTML/CSS here and there but I don't like em, lol. I had a C++ course that I had just taken in my undergrad studies. I loved it and was hands down my favorite course in the past year and half or a little more. Sure, I am still using Python as my focus since it will allow me to get access to a job quicker, as well as easier to learn... Not to mention I am a complete CS noob and this past year I have been reallly biting off more than I can chew everyday, just trying not to waste any... ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [C\+\+26: Reflection, Memory Safety, Contracts, and a New Async Model](https://daily.dev/posts/c-26-reflection-memory-safety-contracts-and-a-new-async-model-qkor2ctht) · InfoQ · 18 upvotes · 2 comments - [C\+\+26 is done\! — Trip report: March 2026 ISO C\+\+ standards meeting \(London Croydon, UK\)](https://daily.dev/posts/c-26-is-done-trip-report-march-2026-iso-c-standards-meeting-london-croydon-uk--qgbxvzmu3) · Sutter's Mill · 18 upvotes · 1 comments - [Contracts are in C\+\+26 despite disquiet over their value](https://daily.dev/posts/contracts-are-in-c-26-despite-disquiet-over-their-value-kccnzifgd) · DEVCLASS · 21 upvotes · 0 comments - [The C\+\+ Standard Library Has Been Walking Itself Back for Fifteen Years, and the Receipts Are Public](https://daily.dev/posts/the-c-standard-library-has-been-walking-itself-back-for-fifteen-years-and-the-receipts-are-public-tdkysrrko) · Lobsters · 6 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#rust](https://daily.dev/tags/rust), [#c++](https://daily.dev/tags/c++) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/why-cpp-is-going-to-be-relevant-again--p1o0tcdzt) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Why CPP is going to be relevant AGAIN?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-cpp-is-going-to-be-relevant-again--p1o0tcdzt","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-cpp-is-going-to-be-relevant-again--p1o0tcdzt"},"datePublished":"2026-07-20T07:36:02.608Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T20:53:50.228Z","description":"C++26 was finalized in March 2026, representing the most significant revision to the language since C++11. Key additions include a hardened standard library...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/df7d2b4473cf117152906eb9a7c706bc?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/df7d2b4473cf117152906eb9a7c706bc?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Medium","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Medium","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/medium","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/medium_js"},"commentCount":4,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-cpp-is-going-to-be-relevant-again--p1o0tcdzt","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":43},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":4}],"keywords":"rust,c++","timeRequired":"PT7M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Medium","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/medium_js"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Why CPP is going to be relevant AGAIN?"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-cpp-is-going-to-be-relevant-again--p1o0tcdzt","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"Very nice! It’s good to see the old programming languages getting modernized.\nRust’s biggest contribution was forcing old languages to improve or get abbandoned.","datePublished":"2026-07-24T19:27:19.894Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/P1O0TcdzT#c-N5lqGXknR","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Isaac de Andrade","url":"https://daily.dev/andradei","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2653546?v=4"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"I enjoyed this post a lot, Thanks! I have been learning Python mainly with a side of SQL and a little bit of HTML/CSS here and there but I don’t like em, lol. I had a C++ course that I had just taken in my undergrad studies. I loved it and was hands down my favorite course in the past year and half or a little more. Sure, I am still using Python as my focus since it will allow me to get access to a job quicker, as well as easier to learn… Not to mention I am a complete CS noob and this past year I have been reallly biting off more than I can chew everyday, just trying not to waste any second. When I am not at work and I am at home. I am most definitely working on my HW first and foremost just so I can maintain a respectable grade along with learning anything that I don’t learn myself. I spend majority of my time playing around in the Python REPL, Nvim+Tmux to get the hang of bare minimum sorts of environments where I just have a bash/zsh/fsh shell and then ofc are falling in love with Tmux and Vim/Nvim finally, thank god!! At first these tools were not easy for me to use and I don’t like using things without understanding its purpose, why is it so popular, what happens when I do this, kind of stuff and I spent the past 6mths learning and obviously still ‘know nothing’ compared to even a junior dev who has been practicing this way for a couple years but, I am understanding why people love these tools.\nOk, sorry - back on track, C++ not my life story, copy that, lol. I struggle to not play around in my C++ directory and/or hopping into one of my C++ repos that I learned how to create, like an actual proper repo and not just a dir I shove all my scripts into and be like- theres my repo, lmao. No , I learned the proper practice or at least the text book practice and it taught me about Headers being placed into include and reminds me of the ‘init’ dir in a python repo. I know theres similarities because I can have one script importing all my functions, and whatever else. Then in main() I can just call that one init file with the imports declared… I am assuming all repos are similar to this, lol and admittedly I have only gotten experience with Python, C/C++ in this aspect. I had a Java course and actually hated it, lol. I still have JDK 25 or whatever it was on my machine and haven’t used it since that course. Once I had my C++ course, I took the time to learn a tiny bit of C as well and some differences between C and C++, of which will end up taking me down more rabbit holes like learning the history of how C was created and then C++ over a decade later… I find those stories so incredibly motivating and can’t help but be fully enveloped when reading or watching anything C/C++ related because it runs majority of our… Everything, really. lol, straight up is the MOST IMPORTANT language out there and I couldn’t even imagine if we didn’t have talented engineers today working on making C++ even better. I have been thinking to myself one or two times a week - ’ Hey maybe I should say F*** Python and learn Rust, YOLO… I am glad that I did more research into these languages and are actually taking the time to understand this digital landscape that I am so intrigued and excited to be a tiny insignificant piece to, lol.\nI learned that the Python interpreter is actually handing off my code I wrote a Cpython compiler and will turn my code into a sort of bytecode exclusive to python and resemble assembly instructions but more simplified, at least how I look at it, lol. I just find it so fascinating how much abstraction is being done when I use Python and find myself often using the disassembler module just to see what the python source file will produce in Cpython, so cool and confusing at first, lol. I also really enjoyed Laurie Wired’s one video on C/C++ standard for Aerospace and in particular fighter Jets and other Air force toys and when she was explaining about why 90% of the C/C++ std libs isn’t used because of the same thing you mentioned\n" Aerospace, automotive, and embedded systems where a wasted microsecond is a defect "\nAt first I was like, WHY?! Then took me about 20 secs of placing myself inside a jet and not being able to perform a function that will save my life fast enough due to some error being thrown and the program not handling it properly etc… Imagine being the engineer who had this happen them, ugh… Would be tough man but, if ever writing code that important -I am quite sure I would not sleep well until I was able to test it out physically myself… In the jet, lol… IDK man, just so crazy how much trust we need to put into the code that makes these programs. Look at our cars these days, I got a 2024 Volvo S60 and that bad boy is a big ass computer, or I should say multiple computers. When I talk to some of my buddies who are auto mechanics and been working the trade for 10-20 years have always been telling me that auto mechanic positions are going to need programming and basic knowledge of program execution eventually and the more I pay attention to it myself, I find myself wanting to mess around with the software in my car but, I remember I am a big noob and don’t know anywhere near enough and could severely mess up my vehicle if I were to do this. lol, I am sorry… I will just keep rambling and won’t stop.\nThanks for the great read. I will have to stop by this blog/site more often to check in on specifics in programming language changes. Also, I may have to take some pointers to the simplicity of this blog and implement into my current project I am doing. First web app I have ever attempted to make… Well… Really it will be the first program that I wrote that wasn’t destined to be a CLI tool for me, lol. I am having too much fun with this experience and I am not a big fan of Web development,lol- I have never written JS or TS but holy crap! The amount of memes and negativity that I have seen and at first not understand fully until I kept reading stuff about how ALOT of codebases to are stuck using JS find themselves having to try and maintain their codebases/program functionality whilst the maintainers of main stream tools are CONSTANTLY making big package breaking issues and it just sounds like such a headache to deal with… I am sure I will get suckered into JS or TS eventually but IDK, it just seems like a bad time to me. Thanks again and sorry for a ridiculously long comment, lmao.","datePublished":"2026-07-23T06:18:06.311Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/P1O0TcdzT#c-aMA5BOkc8","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Kyle Bennett","url":"https://daily.dev/ambi_dex","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--sP1o1RE5--/f_auto/v1768771972/avatars/avatar_s964t6Sv9gCgRujNRxmzq?_a=BAMAMiiu0"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-cpp-is-going-to-be-relevant-again--p1o0tcdzt#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What new features does C++26 add for memory safety?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"C++26 ships a hardened standard library that adds bounds checking to common operations like vector, string, and span, and makes reading an uninitialized variable well-defined behavior instead of a security hole. When Google recompiled its existing C++ codebase against this hardened standard library, it fixed over 1,000 bugs and cut its production segfault rate by 30%, at a cost of roughly 0.30% performance with only seven places needing a manual opt-out. Teams weighing a C++ to Rust rewrite versus recompiling can track C++26 hardening details on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is compile-time reflection in C++26 used for?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Compile-time reflection lets code inspect its own types and generate from them at zero runtime cost, eliminating the need to hand-write or bolt on external code generators for tasks like serializing a struct or generating a schema. Herb Sutter, who chairs the C++ standards committee, called it the biggest upgrade for C++ development since the invention of templates. Developers tracking major language productivity shifts like this follow C++ tooling changes on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What are contracts in C++26 and how do they work?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Contracts let a developer state a function's preconditions and postconditions directly in the code using pre() and post() syntax, making them visible to callers and static analyzers rather than relying on documentation or scattered assert calls. For example, a withdraw function can declare pre(amount > 0) and post(r: a.balance >= 0), turning informal rules into checkable specifications. Engineers enforcing correctness guarantees in C++ code can follow language changes like this via daily.dev."}}]} ```