https://mecanik.dev/en/series/modern-programming-101/Recent content in Modern Programming 101 on [ MECANIK DEV ]Hugo -- gohugo.ioenCopyright © 2020-{year} by [ MECANIK DEV ]. All Rights Reserved.Tue, 24 Feb 2026 18:00:00 +0100https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/cobol-to-c++-migration/Tue, 24 Feb 2026 18:00:00 +0100https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/cobol-to-c++-migration/A COBOL to C++ migration is one of the most impactful modernization projects an organization can take on, and also one of the most underserved. There are still roughly 220 billion lines of COBOL running in production today. Banks process trillions of dollars through it. Governments run pension systems, tax collection, and healthcare on it. Airlines book flights with it. And every year, the people who know how to maintain that code get closer to retirement, with almost nobody coming up behind them.https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/c++-vs-rust-memory-safety-practical-examples-with-modern-c++/Sun, 15 Feb 2026 20:00:00 +0100https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/c++-vs-rust-memory-safety-practical-examples-with-modern-c++/The memory safety discussion between C++ and Rust has become one of the most active topics in software engineering. Government agencies have weighed in, conference talks are dedicated to it, and opinions run strong on both sides. Let me be upfront: Rust is an excellent language. Its ownership model and borrow checker are genuinely innovative, and they catch entire categories of bugs at compile time. If you’re starting a new project and Rust fits your team and ecosystem, that’s a great choice.https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/tiny-bpe-trainer-a-fast-and-lightweight-bpe-trainer-in-c++/Thu, 07 Aug 2025 20:00:00 +0100https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/tiny-bpe-trainer-a-fast-and-lightweight-bpe-trainer-in-c++/Introducing Tiny BPE TrainerMost modern NLP models today from GPT to RoBERTa, rely on subword tokenization using Byte Pair Encoding (BPE). But what if you want to train your own vocabulary in pure C++? Meet Tiny BPE Trainer - a blazing-fast, header-only BPE trainer written in modern C++17/20, with zero dependencies, full UTF-8 support, and HuggingFace-compatible output (vocab.txt, merges.txt). Why Another BPE Trainer?Because existing options are often: Python-only, with heavy runtime dependencies (Rust, Protobuf, etc.https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/a-fast-utf-8-aware-c++-tokenizer-for-nlp-ml/Wed, 06 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +0100https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/a-fast-utf-8-aware-c++-tokenizer-for-nlp-ml/Introducing Modern Text TokenizerModern natural language processing (NLP) models like BERT, DistilBERT, and other transformer-based architectures rely heavily on effective tokenization. But C++ developers often face limited options like bloated dependencies, poor Unicode support, or lack of compatibility with vocab-based encoders. That’s why I created Modern Text Tokenizer - a blazing-fast, header-only C++ tokenizer that’s UTF-8 aware, zero-dependency, and ML-ready out of the box. What Makes It Unique? Zero Dependencies – No Boost, no ICU, no external libs.https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/learn-programming-fundamentals-choosing-the-right-language/Sat, 15 Apr 2023 18:24:00 +0100https://mecanik.dev/en/posts/learn-programming-fundamentals-choosing-the-right-language/Embarking on a journey into the world of programming can be both exciting and overwhelming. With countless programming languages to choose from, it’s essential to pick the right one that aligns with your goals and aspirations. In this article, we will explore the factors to consider when choosing your first programming language and provide examples of code in popular languages to help illustrate the differences between them. Factors to Consider When Choosing a Programming Language Career Goals: If you plan to pursue a career in software development, it’s essential to research which programming languages are in demand for the industries you’re interested in.