Usenet Newsgroups

Three Usenet newsgroups are devoted to C++. The general-purpose anything-goes newsgroup is comp.lang.c++. The postings there run the gamut from detailed explanations of advanced programming techniques to rants and raves by those who love or hate C++ to undergraduates the world over asking for help with the homework assignments they neglected until too late. Volume in the newsgroup is extremely high. Unless you have hours of free time on your hands, you’ll want to employ a filter to help separate the wheat from the chaff. Get a good filter — there’s a lot of chaff.

In November 1995, a moderated version of comp.lang.c++ was created. Named comp.lang.c++.moderated, this newsgroup is also designed for general discussion of C++ and related issues, but the moderators aim to weed out implementation-specific questions and comments, questions covered in the extensive on-line FAQ (“Frequently Asked Questions” list), flame wars, and other matters of little interest to most C++ practitioners.