If you need proof that Microsoft has a new passion for C++ you just need to see the first episode of "Going Native", a new Channel 9 monthly video show.

Microsoft marketing department clearly has a new buzz word!

The blurb says:

dedicated to native development and native developers

Well to me "native development" means "assembler" but OK I have to be re-educated by Microsoft.

It now seems that "native" means C++and "non-native" means managed code. Applying "native" to C++ seems a little strange as there is nothing native about C++ on any machine architecture that I know of - i.e. it still needs a compiler to convert it into the truly native language that actually runs on the hardware.  It might even seem more reasonable to use "native" to apply to say C or anything so primitive that it doesn't support objects.

The presenters start out stating that we shouldn't swallow the image that "native" developers have grey hair and are basically dinosaurs from a bygone age. We are told that the average C++ developer, sorry native developer, is really quite with it and on the cutting edge.

Most of us would probably feel that Microsoft might have sidelined C++ developers in the past, but the majority of us have been getting on with using and supporting the language for some time. To have Microsoft now lecture us on how we really are, and always were, trendy is something of an insult in itself!

The presenters then go on to discuss when non-native developers i.e. C# programmers should "go native". At this point the use of the term "native" is getting ridiculous!

Even so the publicity continues to emphasise how native is faster than the old fashioned managed code and CLR approach to creating a program. This seems to be the new reality - no mention of how managed code might be safer or easier or more sophisticated than raw, sorry, native C++.

If you want to watch this propaganda video, mostly preaching to the converted, you can view it below:

If you want to skip the boring bits, and to be honest there are quite a few, you might prefer the links below:

[00:09] Charles and Diego construct the show and talk about modern C++ (how 'bout that set, eh?)
[07:27] Diego demos shared_ptr
[10:01] Charles and Diego chat briefly about C++ lambdas
[10:32] Diego demos lambdas
[12:13] Charles and Diego chat briefly about C++ auto keyword (seen in the lambdas demo)
[13:30] Charles and Diego talk about the audience and how you can help us fly this plane
[15:32] Charles interviews Ale Contenti
[26:35] Charles and Diego destruct the show

We can only hope that the next episode is less an introduction and more an exploration of C++ on the Microsoft platform. It is too much to hope that the word "native" would be used less - I will just have to learn to live with it