Table of Contents

See my blog stats and thoughts for the first half of the year.

The Story  

Keeping things short I’d like to point out a few major things that happened in the first half of 2017:

  • Moved to a weekly schedule!
    • I was usually writing every second week, but then I’ve experimented with a weekly schedule… and it worked out quite nicely! I hope I’ll be able to continue with such pace.
  • Newsletter is growing
    • One year ago I’ve started the list, it was getting like a few people per month. Then with C++17 Ref Card, the number of subscribers skyrocket :) For example, today, I’ve sent the newsletter to 1700+ people!
  • C++17 features
    • It’s 2017, so we need to talk a lot about the new features of C++17. As you see, most of my posts are related to the language changes. Somehow my readers are still not bored with that!
  • C++17 Ref Card - my first product/incentive
    • Just an experiment, but it’s so amazing.
  • Monetization
    • The blog grows, but also the costs. Not to mention the fact that I like the idea of getting some real money out of my writing. So far it’s only a tiny addition, but I am doing various things to increase revenue. Installing ads on the blog might not be the best, and it spoiled the layout… still it’s not hopefully that horrible.
    • I’ve prepared a separate site about possible options to collaborate/advertise - take a look here: Let’s work together.

Actions from my previous summary:

  • Improve the posting pipeline. Keep the quality (or improve it), but reduce the time needed to publish an article.
    • Working on that, but I think the pipeline is better anyway as I write weekly.
  • Keep the plan, don’t take too many breaks :)
    • Done! I moved to the weekly schedule. Only one break at the beginning of June (but newsletter was sent). I think doing a one week break doesn’t hurt, only longer breaks like one… two months. It’s hard to return after such break.
  • Have the buffer of posts
    • Almost :) Working on it
  • Start with some products? Like little self-contained tutorials? Tips and tricks? Bonus content?
    • Not fully done, but I’ve been thinking on that. There’s also C++17 Ref card, which is a tiny/free product.
  • Improve my writing.
    • I didn’t do any particular courses, but I think through practice I do better and better. I use Grammarly, and that makes things a bit easier. I highly recommend Grammarly to anyone who likes to check the writing fast. There’s also a free plan so you can play with it.
  • Write more guest posts

Stats  

1st January 2017 till 30th June 2017:

  • Visits: 300,541 (50k monthly) - 148.05% more than the previous six months!
  • Unique visitors: 64,823 (~11k monthly) - 113.30% more than the previous six months!
  • Twitter followers: 1350 (30th June)
  • Mailing list: 1300 (30th June)

C++17 Features  

~50k views

This is a bit funny story. Initially, I didn’t plan to write it as it seemed that would be quite a hard topic… describe all the features? Yeah… but then I thought why not use Github/other people and write that in together? Also, it would be impossible to write the complete post in just a day… or even week. So I put my perfectionism aside and just started creating the outline and the framework. And then, once it was live I just needed to fill the holes and keep writing. Plus a few people helped me.

The whole article is still not in the final form, more and more content could be added. But You still seem to like it! Thanks.

C++ 17 in details series  

I was motivated by the success of the initial article and realized that it would be best to do some categorization of the features, make more example, improve descriptions. 2017 is also a year of C++17, so the more content about it is the better :)

Posts so far (till end of June)

C++ Status at the end of 2016  

~23k views

My sixth update about the language! As always it gives me a positive boost at the beginning of the year!

How To Stay Sane with Modern C++  

~15k views

Pseudo Rant/Supportive post about modern C++. While writing code in C++11/14/17 is getting simpler and simpler, it feels like a new language… I still understand the complexity behind. While many samples are much nicer, there are so many new features that people are confused. Especially when you learned old C++, and now everyone tells you to abandon it and be modern.

C++ Jobs and Predictions  

-12,5k views

The post was motivated by John Sonmez video about a bad situation for C++. I am aware that the language is maybe not as popular as Java or JavaScript. Still, it’s not doomed. I think it’s still a solid asset to know C++. Also, I’ve noticed that the situation on the job market is stable or even growing (as in my city).

Other worth mentioning  

C++18 Next Year!

A few people believed that :)

Modern C++ Programming Cookbook Review

My review of this great book.

Summary  

Moving to the weekly schedule, growing the newsletter, writing about C++17. That’s excellent first part of the year!

Thanks for reading the blog!

I tried a lot to bring quality content, especially about the new language standard. With your support, I just plan to continue and write even more about C++ and other good programming stories :)

I haven’t created any survey this time; maybe I’ll do it at the end of the year.

Still, let me know in comments:

  • What topics would you like to see on this blog?
  • What’s your biggest problem with C++?
  • What’s your opinion about this blog?