Computers

12 top-notch libraries for C++ programming

It gets its name from C++’s direct predecessor, C, with the ++ operator added to indicate that C++ is an increment of C.

C++ is a system programming language that has been around for 40 years. It was designed in 1979 and gets its name from its predecessor, C. The ++ operator was added to show that C++ is an increment of C. Although it is not as popular as it once was, C++ is still ranked highly on multiple programming language popularity indexes. There is broad support for C++ among the makers of IDEs, editors, compilers, test frameworks, code quality, and other tools, making it easier to use. There are many excellent libraries available to software developers to help them build C++ applications. C++ developers rely on the following 12 things. You can read the full article by clicking here.

C++ is a general-purpose systems programming language that is now more than 40 years old, having been designed in 1979. Far from losing steam, C++ still ranks near the top of multiple programming language popularity indexes.

Smoothing the path to C++ usage is broad support for the language among the makers of IDEs, editors, compilers, test frameworks, code quality, and other tools. Software developers also have at their disposal many excellent libraries to assist with building C++ applications. Here are 12 that C++ developers rely on.

Active Template Library

From Microsoft, Active Template Library (ATL) is a set of C++ classes for building COM (Common Object Model) objects, with support for COM features such as dual interfaces, standard COM enumerator interfaces, connection points, and ActiveX controls. Available with the Visual Studio IDE, ATL can be used to build single-threaded objects, apartment-model objects, free-threaded model objects, or both free-threaded and apartment-model objects.

Asio C++ library

The Asio C++ library is used for network and low-level I/O programming, offering a consistent asynchronous model. Providing basic building blocks for concurrency, C++ networking, and other types of I/O, Asio has been used in applications ranging from smartphone apps and games to highly interactive websites and real-time transaction systems. Projects using Asio include the WebSocketPP library and the DDT3 remote debugger for the Lua language. Asio is available as free open source under the Boost Software License, and supported on Linux, Windows, MacOS, and FreeBSD.

Boost

Boost provides free, peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries, accessible from boost.org, that work with the C++ standard library. Boost libraries are intended to be used across a spectrum of applications. Among the collection are libraries for JSON, math, multi-index, file system, and geometry. Boost works on most modern operating systems including Linux, Unix, and Windows. Linux and Unix distributions such as Debian, Fedora, and NetBSD already include pre-built Boost packages.

Cinder

Cinder is an open source library for “creative coding” in C++. Useful for applications such as audio, computational geometry, graphics, and video, Cinder supports platform-native windowing and event-handling, along with I/O abstraction, and has a built-in API for XML and JSON parsing. Designed around idiomatic C++ 11 features such as shared_ptr, the library ships with numerous samples. Cinder supports MacOS, iOS, Linux, Windows, and Windows UWP.

Eigen

Eigen is a C++ template library for linear algebra, including matrices, vectors, numerical solvers, and related algorithms. All matrix sizes are supported, from small, fixed matrices to arbitrarily large, dense matrices. Algorithms are selected for reliability. All standard numeric types are supported. For speed, Eigen features expression templates to intelligently remove temporaries and enable lazy evaluation. Freely available under the Mozilla Public License 2 and downloadable from the Eigen project page, Eigen has been fitted with an API described by proponents as expressive and clean and natural to C++ programmers. The test suite for Eigen has been run against many compilers to ensure reliability.

FloatX

FloatX, or Float eXtended, is a header-only library for low-precision, floating point type emulation. While natively compatible with C++ compilers, FloatX can be called by other languages such as Python or Fortran. Floating point types are extended beyond the native single and double precision types. Template types are provided that allow the user to select the number of bits used for the exponent as well as significant parts of the floating point number. FloatX is based on the idea of the FlexFloat library for emulating reduced-precision floating types, but implements a superset of FlexFloat functionality in C and provides C++ wrappers. FloatX emerged from the Open Transprecision Computing initiative. It is available free under the Apache License 2.0.

OpenCV

OpenCV, or Open Source Computer Vision Library, is a computer vision and machine learning library written natively in C++, and available under an Apache 2 license. OpenCV was built to provide common infrastructure for computer vision applications and accelerate the use of machine perception in commercial products. More than 2,500 optimized algorithms for face recognition, object detection, object classification, 3D model extraction, image search, and much more, OpenCV has amassed a user community of more than 47,000 persons. Available from the OpenCV project website, the library provides C++, Java, Python, and Matlab interfaces and supports Windows, Linux, Android, and MacOS. CUDA and OpenCL interfaces are in development.

Poco C++ Libraries

Intended to simplify C++ development, the Poco (Portable Components) C++ Libraries are cross-platform C++ libraries for building Internet and network applications to run on systems ranging from desktops and servers to mobile and IoT devices. The libraries also can be used to build microservices with REST APIs for machine learning or data analytics. The Poco libraries are similar in concept to the Java Class Library, Microsoft’s .NET Framework, or Apple Cocoa.

Developers can use Poco libraries to build application servers in C++ that talk to SQL databases, Redis, or MongoDB, or to build software for IoT devices that talk to cloud back-ends. Among the features of the libraries are a cache framework, HTML form handling, an FTP client for transferring files, and an HTTP server and client. The Poco libraries are available free under the Boost Software License and downloadable from GitHub.

Velox

Velox is an embeddable, vectorized execution library for OLAP systems. The library is intended to optimize data processing systems and query engines. The project was begun as an internal engineering project at Facebook in 2020 and then open sourced. In common usage scenarios, Velox takes a fully optimized query plan as input and performs the described computation. Components include a high-level typing system, a columnar memory module, function packages, and network serializers. Velox is available on GitHub in the Facebook Incubator repo.

Windows Template Library

Originally from Microsoft, the Windows Template Library (WTL) is (since 2004) an open source library for building lightweight Windows applications and UI components. Positioned as an alternative to the Microsoft Foundation Classes toolkit, WTL extends ATL and provides a set of classes for controls, dialogs, frame windows, and GDI objects.

Wt

Wt is a web GUI library in modern C++ that allows developers to build interactive web UIs with widgets, without having to write JavaScript. A server-side solution, Wt does request handling and page rendering, providing built-in security, PDF rendering, a 2D and 3D painting system, an object-relational mapping library, a charting library, and an authentication framework. The core library is open source, providing a hybrid single-page framework that can be deployed on Linux, Unix, or Windows.

Developed by software engineering company Emweb, Wt is compatible with HTML5 and HTML4 browsers as well as with plain HTML user agents. And Wt can integrate with third-party JavaScript libraries. With Wt, an application is defined as a hierarchy of widgets–ranging from generic widgets such as push buttons to specialized widgets such as an entire blog widget. The widget tree is rendered as HTML/JavaScript in the browser. Wt can be downloaded from the project webpage. Both open source and commercial usage terms are available.

Yocto/GL

Yocto/GL is a collection of small C++17 libraries for building physically-based graphics algorithms. It is written in a data-oriented style for ease of development, and split into small libraries to make code navigation easier. Data is stored in simple structs and accessed with free functions or directly.

Yocto/GL includes code from the PCG random number generator, boost hash_combine, and external libraries from the public domain or that are included with their own licenses. The developers of Yocto/GL prefer a functional approach rather than an object-oriented one, favoring free functions to class methods. Functions and data are defined in sibling namespaces contained in the yocto namespace.

Yocto/GL is released under the MIT license and available from GitHub. A C++17 compiler is required.

Automobile

Amazon Prime Day deals: Get discounts up to 30% and more on these 5 desktops

Great reductions in prices are offered on the five desktops on sale for Amazon Prime Day. Have a look at these reductions on computers available on the Amazon Prime Day celebration.

Home Laptops PC News Amazon Prime Day deals: Get discounts up to 30% and more on these 5 desktops

The Amazon Prime Day sale is coming to its end tonight, but there are still a few hours left, which means you can do some last-minute shopping and save big amounts. If you are looking to buy a well featured desktop with a huge price cut, then these 5 Amazon Prime Day deals on desktops are for you.

1. ASUS Vivo AiO V222:

The ASUS desktop with 4 core Intel is now available with a 35 percent discount. Which means you can get it for Rs.27990 instead of Rs.42990.

Not sure whichlaptop to buy?

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2. Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 3:

This desktop is available at a 28 percent discount. Under this Amazon Prime Day deal, you can buy it for just Rs.51490 instead of Rs.71190.

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3. Acer Aspire C24: The Acer Aspire C24 desktop is available at a discount of 28%. You can buy it for just Rs.50590 instead of Rs.70550.

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4. ASUS Zen AiO 24: This ASUS desktop is available with a 36 percent initial discount which brings the price down to Rs.60490 from Rs.94990.

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5. HP All-in-One PC AMD Ryzen 3 3250U: The HP desktop is available with 20 percent initial discount, which makes the desktop available to you for just Rs.37990 instead of Rs.47267.

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Although the initial discounts are already high you can bring the price down further by taking advantage of exchange offers and bank discounts available as part of these Amazon prime Day deals. The offer is for a limited period of time so, hurry up.

Automobile

Lego Mars Perseverance can spin 360 degrees in place just like the real rover

Lego has created a version of the Mars Perseverance rover that can turn around completely, just like the real life vehicle does. The replica was announced on Autoblog on Sunday, July 16th, 2023. Check out our stipulations concerning using our feeds. Share a link to this post and send an email with your comments to show your support.

For nearly 2 1/2 years, NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance has been cruising the Red Planet, collecting soil samples, examining rocks and looking for signs of microbial life. Now, the six-wheeled crawler has been immortalized in Lego form with the release of a new 1,132-piece set.

The kit is part of Lego’s Technic line, which is designed for more engineering-curious builders. A big part of the draw is the functioning complex systems that mimic the real rover’s mechanisms. For example, the finished Lego kit lets you switch the rover between a regular driving mode and a 360 mode. In the latter, the four outer wheels each lock at an angle so the rover can rotate in place.

Speaking of which, the wheels mimic the cleated aluminum wheels with titanium spokes of the real Percy. All six wheels on the Lego kit articulate to let the rig travel over rocky and pockmarked surfaces never touched by human beings. The long robotic arm with rock coring head and sample collector is replicated with movement along three axes. The set even includes the Ingenuity helicopter, an experimental solar flier equipped with cameras to scan the Martian landscape.

The real Perseverance and Ingenuity were launched on July 30, 2020. The duo landed on Mars a little over half a year later, on February 18, 2021. Since then, Perseverance has traveled just under 12 miles on the Martian surface as it examines the Jezero Crater. After that, it’ll proceed toward an ancient river delta to seek evidence of remaining water. Signals sent to Earth take about 11 minutes to arrive. Meanwhile, Ingenuity has completed 52 flights in the alien atmosphere, the first human-made machine to take flight on another planet.

The Lego set will be released on Aug. 1, three years and a day after Perseverance and Ingenuity were launched from Cape Canaveral. The kit will retail for $99.99 and is recommended for kids ages 10 and up.

Automobile

Formula One’s Netflix effect is filtering down to kids

The effects of Formula One’s association with Netflix are extending down to younger generations, resulting in more children getting interested in the sport. This was first reported by Autoblog on Sunday 16th July 2023. Check out our stipulations concerning using our feeds. Share a link to this post and send an email with your comments to show your support.

LONDON — Organizers of the “F1 in Schools” competition say the Netflix “Drive to Survive” effect is reaching the classroom with a record number of teams entered in this year’s finals in Singapore in September.

The global not-for-profit program, which aims to encourage students into science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects, offers university scholarships and future work opportunities with F1 teams.

“‘Drive to Survive’ has definitely helped the whole sport,” the program’s founder Andrew Denford told Reuters, referencing the docuseries credited with a rapid rise in the sport’s popularity.

“At the primary final, I asked the kids who likes Formula One and all their hands went up when four, five, six years ago maybe only half of them (did).”

The school teams must raise sponsorship, draw up a business plan, design and make tiny model cars and hold presentations before going racing.

The finals held in the run-up to the Singapore Grand Prix weekend will have 68 entries from 60 countries compared to a previous best of 55 teams.

“There’s 68% girls in Saudi doing it and three (Saudi) teams coming with a majority of girls,” said Denford.

All will get garage and paddock tours and meet the drivers, with every Formula One team and tire supplier Pirelli providing a trophy of sorts.

The program launched in Britain in 2000 with eight schools in Wakefield and now has more than 28,000 educational institutions involved worldwide.

At the youngest level, kids start at the age of nine with paper cars powered by bicycle pumps. In the top 11-19 age bracket the cars are carved from a block of balsa wood and powered by a gas canister.

“We’ve got townships in Soweto … favela schools in Brazil. There’s no level of entry,” said Denford of the program’s reach.

Automobile

Used EV prices are collapsing, and Tesla is why

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Used electric vehicle prices are going down, and it is because of Tesla. This phenomenon was originally reported on Autoblog on Sunday, July 16th of 2023 at 8:00 A.M., Eastern Daylight Time; please acknowledge our terms of usage for feed items. Check out our stipulations concerning using our feeds. Share a link to this post and send an email with your comments to show your support.

Last week’s government inflation data showed used car prices were falling and likely stabilizing to levels just above pre-pandemic pricing. It seems prices for used electric vehicles, however, are falling even faster.

According to auto research firm iSeeCars.com, used EV prices are collapsing more than those in the overall used car market. In the firm’s June 2023 report, the data shows that used EV prices have fallen by nearly 30% year over year, with price drops actually accelerating from 8.8% in January to 16.8% in March and to 29.5% in June. The firm analyzed transactions from over 1.8 million one- to five-year-old used cars from the June 2022 and 2023 time period to capture the results.

“A year ago, used EV prices were on the upswing, rising faster than the average used car,” said iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer in the report. “Electric vehicle prices are now falling at nearly 10 times the rate of the average used vehicle, reflecting a clear shift in EV supply and demand.”

Meanwhile, the overall used car market is stabilizing according to iSeeCars.com, with overall prices down 3.6% year over year in June, following price drops of 2.9% in May and 3.6 % in April.

Tesla price cuts

The biggest reason behind the fall in used EV prices? Tesla’s (TSLA) massive price cuts earlier this year put extreme downward pressure on the used EV market, which is dominated by Tesla EVs like the Model 3 and Model Y.

“With Tesla cutting prices on new models its used EV values have tumbled. And because Tesla makes up the bulk of the used EV market the dramatic drop in Tesla values has impacted the entire category,” Brauer said.

Other factors pushing prices lower on the second-hand EV market include fuel prices stabilizing this year (hurting demand for EVs), rising interest rates, and price-conscious shoppers looking for better vehicle deals regardless of powertrain, Brauer said.

Looking deeper into the data, the top 10 models with the steepest price drops included six hybrid and electric vehicles, with Tesla occupying three of the top five slots with the Model 3 (30.5% drop), Model X (21.3% drop), and Model S (19.0% drop).

Conversely, used cars with the biggest overall price increases were traditional gas-powered cars led by the Mercedes-Benz SL convertibles, Fiat 500X crossover, Chevrolet Suburban, and two Porsche sportscars — the 911 convertible and 718 Cayman coupe.

Looking across metropolitan markets in the US, the data showed that the Miami market saw the steepest used car price drops at 8.1% year over year in June, followed by New York (6.9%) and Jacksonville, Florida, at 6.8%. Only Dallas, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio saw used car price appreciation across the 50 metro areas covered by iSeeCars.

The bottom line for used EV car buyers could be this: If you want a cheap Tesla EV, now might be your best chance to buy one. And don’t shy away from going across state borders to Florida or New York to buy one.

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks

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Automobile

The best impact wrenches of 2023

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Classified in the areas of Commerce and Parts and Accessories, The best impact wrenches of 2023 was initially revealed on Autoblog on Sunday, 16 July 2023 at 07:00 EDT. We kindly suggest that you observe our usage guidelines for material sources. Check out our stipulations concerning using our feeds. Share a link to this post and send an email with your comments to show your support.

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

There are regular wrenches that almost everyone is familiar with, and then there are impact wrenches. Impact wrenches can do everything a regular wrench can do but much faster. They can also take on more heavy-duty tasks that manual wrenches cannot. They have a high amount of torque, which makes the most stubborn nuts and bolts easy to remove. Most of them are cordless and battery-powered, but some of them are wired and work just as well. Here are the best impact wrenches available for sale online.

AVID POWER Cordless Impact Wrench – $99.99

$99.99 at Amazon

Key Features

Cordless impact wrench kit
3.0A lithium-ion battery
1 hour fast charger
Up to 330 lb-ft of torque
Maximum RPM of 2,000
1/2 ” chuck size

The AVID POWER Cordless Impact Wrench is powered by a 3.0A lithium-ion battery that reaches a maximum of 2,000 RPM and up to 330 lb-ft of torque for tightening and 770 lb-ft of loosening torque. This wrench has a special friction design where it holds sockets onto the anvil better than a standard bearing ball.

PORTER-CABLE Impact Wrench, 450 lbs of Torque – $79.99

$79.99 at Amazon

Key Features

Corded
1/2 ” hog ring anvil
Maximum RPM of 2,200
Up to 450 ft-lb of torque
7.5 amp motor
3 year limited warranty

This PORTER-CABLE Impact Wrench has a plug-in cord and is powered by a 7.5 amp motor. It reaches a maximum of 2,200 RPM and up to 450 lb-ft of torque. Socket changes are made simple with its 1/2 ” hog ring. This wrench comes with a 3-year limited warranty.

Makita XWT15Z 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Impact Wrench – $165.00

$165.00 at Amazon

Key Features

5.0Ah lithium-ion battery
Extreme Protection Technology
Brushless motor
Maximum RPM of 3,2000
Up to 430 lb-ft of torque
Long lasting battery life

This Makita Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless Impact Wrench is powered by a large 5.0Ah lithium-ion battery. It reaches up to 3,200 RPM and up to 430 lb-ft of torque. The wrench has three forward and three reverse auto-stop modes to increase efficiency while working.

DEWALT 20V MAX XR 1/2″ High Torque Impact Wrench – $244.99

$244.99 at Amazon

Key Features

Maximum RPM of 2,400
Up to 700 lb-ft of torque
1/2 ” hog ring anvil
Magnesium gearcase
LED light
3 year limited warranty

This DEWALT 20V MAX XR High Torque Impact Wrench is equipped with a lithium-ion battery and has 700 lb-ft of torque and 1,200 lb-ft of breakaway torque. It can reach up to 2,400 RPM and has a 1/2 ” hog ring anvil with a detent pin. There is a LED light with a 20 second delay to add invisibility in low light conditions. A 3 year warranty is included with the purchase of this wrench.

Milwaukee 2767-20 M18 FUEL High Torque 1/2″ Impact Wrench – $213.82

$213.82 at Walmart

Key Features

REDLITHIUM battery
Up to 1,400 lb-ft of maximum torque
Up to 1,000 lb-ft of fastening torque
4-mode drive control
1/2 ” friction ring anvil

This Milwaukee High Torque Impact Wrench is powered by a REDLITHIUM battery which is a unique type of lithium-ion battery that lasts longer and has extra protection from overloading and overheating. It can reach 1,400 lb-ft of maximum torque and 1,000 lb-ft of fastening torque.

What are the benefits of an impact wrench?

Impact wrenches have various benefits that make them worth the price. Their high torque output gives them a major advantage over other drills and wrenches. They can work much faster than other wrenches and come as either wireless or they can be plugged in.

Are there any disadvantages with impact wrenches?

The biggest downside of impact wrenches is the price. They can cost around $100 or much more and if you don’t use it often then it may not be worth the price.

Impact driver vs impact wrench

The names are similar, but they are different. According to Pro Tool Reviews, “An impact driver is a screwdriving specialist. Use one for slotted, Phillips, square, Torx, and other fasteners with a head that requires a driver bit to install. Turn to the higher power of an impact wrench for fastening and loosening nuts and bolts.”

Impact wrench vs torque wrench

Impact wrenches are power tools that are recommended for more serious projects such as taking apart heavy-duty equipment or removing tires while torque wrenches are more practical for basic work that can be done by hand.

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