It is no secret that managing C++ dependencies is a serious challenge, especially for larger projects. It is consistently cited as a top pain point in ISO C++ developer surveys. The C++ community has been asking for a standard C++ build system and package manager, but we need solutions that we can put into practice today. So, what do we do, especially at larger companies with complex needs? C++ package managers exist and are growing, but there are still many companies hesitant to adopt them.
In this talk I will present what I learned from talking to over 15 large software teams working with C++. Some had already adopted a package manager, many had not. I will go over their challenges with managing C++ dependencies and how they overcame them. The goal is to share some learnings and hopefully generate a discussion in our community about how we can make our development experience less painful.
