Keynote: Benchmarking - It's About Time - Matt Godbolt - C++Now 2026

Matt Godbolt dives into the mechanics of performance measurement on Linux, exploring hardware counters, compiler optimizations, and microbenchmarking pitfalls.

cppnow.org​ --- Keynote: Benchmarking - It's About Time - Matt Godbolt - C++Now 2026 --- Every low-latency C++ developer measures time - but how many truly understand what they're measuring? This talk takes a deep dive into the machinery behind performance measurement on modern Linux systems: from std::chrono::steady_clock::now() through the vdso, down to rdtsc and hardware performance counters, and back up through the layers of abstraction that can silently distort your results. Along the way, we'll explore the subtle pitfalls that make microbenchmarking so treacherous: compilers that optimise away the code you're trying to measure, branch predictors that learn your benchmark's patterns, pipelining effects that make sequential measurements misleading, and the surprisingly complex question of what "now" even means on a modern CPU. --- Slides: hudson-trading.github.io/its-about-time/ think-cell develops one of the world’s leading PowerPoint applications, with C++ at the core of everything we build, from layout algorithms to deep integration with Microsoft Office. Interested in working on challenging C++ problems with real-world impact? Explore our open roles: think-cell.com/en/career/tech --- Matt Godbolt Matt Godbolt is the creator and primary maintainer of Compiler Explorer. A C++ developer based in Chicago, he works at Hudson River Trading and is one half of the Two's Complement podcast. His career has been a steady journey deeper into the machine: from writing rendering engines for video games to years of low-latency trading systems. His recent Advent of Compiler Optimisations series explored things compilers do that feel like magic. When not hacking on Compiler Explorer, Matt likes to write emulators for the computers he grew up on, the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro and Sega Master System. --- C++Now is an annual onsite international C++ programming and coding conference held in Aspen, Colarado. For all C++ developers, C++ software engineers and those involved with the C++ language, CppNow provides an indepth and technical content provided by the best and brightest C++ experts of the C++ world. Annual CppNow Conference - cppnow.org linkedin.com/company/cppnow​ twitter.com/cppnow facebook.com/CppNow reddit.com/r/CppNow mastodon.social/@cppnow Video Sponsors: Bloomberg --- Videos Filmed & Edited By Bash Films: bashfilms.com/ YouTube Channel Managed & Optimized By Digital Medium Ltd: events.digital-medium.co.uk --- #boost #cpp #cplusplus #programming #coding #softwareengineering #softwaredeveloper #code #cplusplusprogramming #cplusplustutorial #cplus #softwaredevelopment #coder #talk