Channel rules

=RTFM: References, Tutorials, FAQs, Manuals=

All visitors to #C++ are encouraged to become familiar with the following resources:

Standard C++

 * Google Groups, especially the comp.lang.c++ and comp.lang.c++.moderated newsgroups
 * FAQs: our wiki, Nikki Locke's C++ FAQ, Marshall Cline's C++ FAQ Lite
 * cplusplus.com (tutorials and references on C++ and related topics)
 * cppreference.com (language and Standard Library reference)
 * Dinkumware (Standard Library reference)
 * SGI (STL subset of the Standard Library)
 * MSDN Standard C++ Library Overview
 * Apache C++ Standard Library Reference Guide

Windows

 * IRC
 * EFnet: #winprog, #win32 (Windows API), #winsupport (Windows end-user technical support)
 * Freenode: ##windows-coding (yes, ##), #winapi
 * MSDN, the authority on all things Microsoft (Windows/Win32 API, COM, MFC, ATL, etc.)
 * Code Project and Codeguru feature many Windows-specific code samples
 * theForger's Win32 API Programming Tutorial

Networking

 * Beej's Guide to Network Programming Using Internet Sockets

Other

 * Stack Overflow, a programming Q&A site

= Ask questions the smart way =


 * See also http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Try to avoid questions beginning with "Can anyone...?" or "Does anyone...?" Ask your real question and wait for someone to respond. If you're asking why your program doesn't work, make sure to describe in what way it doesn't work:


 * What is your goal?
 * How does your program attempt to achieve that goal?
 * How does the behavior of your program differ from your goal?
 * What research/experiments have you already performed to pin down the problem?

You may also need to specify operating system, compiler, third-party libraries, and compiler options, as applicable.

Use a "pastebin" to share documents (source code, unexpected compiler output, sample input data, expected vs. actual program output, project build scripts and makefiles, etc.). For example:


 * I'm trying to use libfoo to draw a window in Linux. fooCreateWindow returns NULL but fooGetLastError does not indicate an error. This only happens in release mode, but works fine in debug mode. Code: http://commitcode.com/p/r/57nNKPZ4bUs.html

Finally, be patient, as most people run IRC as a background task. If you get no responses for some time, you may ask again later, or you may want to try the Q&A sites or newsgroups listed above. Good luck!

=Do not paste blocks of text into the channel= Rather than flooding the channel with a block of text, upload it to a "pastebin" such as ideone.com, codepad.org, or pastebin.com and paste the given URL instead.

=Do not be excessively annoying. Do not be excessively annoyed= Basically, standard netiquette. Lurk for a few minutes before putting your foot into anything. Learn from your own mistakes and from others.

=Do not piss off the ops= This is one of the previously unwritten rules, but here it is laid down as explicitly as possible. While it is not easy to know what will or will not piss off an op, failure to observe the established guidelines on any given channel is a recipe for getting kicked, and #C++ is no exception.

=Do not automatically rejoin when kicked= This should go without saying, but if you were kicked from the channel, it was for a reason. If your client is set to rejoin when kicked, then you can't have read the kick reason before rejoining.

=Do not ask for pirated software ("warez") or information on illegal activities= Moral and legal issues aside, this is still off-topic and inappropriate for #C++, so don't do it. Ever. If you do, you will be called names, kicked, beaten, drawn, halved and quartered while the ops decide what to do with you.

In other words, no requests for hacks, cracks, keys, serial numbers, or other illegal material will be allowed, and will result in an immediate ban. Do not try to request any file listings or DCCs of illegal files. X-DCC bots are not allowed on #c++.

If we see you typing "!list" or "!files" or any other warez-bot trigger strings, you will be banned.

=Do not be obnoxious or offensive= The channel does not tolerate overtly offensive, racist, sexist, or otherwise harmful or hateful speech about anyone. It is one thing to poke fun or make jokes or be politically incorrect, but it is quite another to directly abuse a person or group of people, and doing the latter will earn you a ban from #C++.

If in doubt, tone it down. It's generally ok to make a politically incorrect joke or use a stereotype sarcastically. What's not ok is to direct abuse or offensive speech toward an individual or a group of people based on things like gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.