Use a newer version of C++?

[JustinPrivitera]

I think it could be helpful for us to use a newer version of C++. Right now we use C++11. There have been a few times when I have tried to take advantage of language features that come with later versions of C++. This article has a list of a few differences between different versions of C++, although it is by no means comprehensive.

[cyrush]

@JustinPrivitera while it might seem strange, compiler support is still an issue in a few places.

That said, many folks are using and requiring C++14 (and are make sure compiler support is in good shape).
C++14 might be doable for us.

[JustinPrivitera]

I think we require gcc 7 now... if I'm reading this page correctly then we should be good to use C++14 or C++17.

[biagas]

VisIt uses the CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD option in in src/CMake/CheckMinimumCompilerVersion.cmake to set required standard to 11. If you wanted to test out 14 or 17, you could change that and try a build and/or run of the regression suite. Not sure if any TP libs would need to be rebuilt with the new standard set as well.

[cyrush]

But there maybe constraints on other systems, or due to other runtimes like CUDA. Though those are moving along quickly these days, but you can't always control what is installed.