Sign up for the KDAB Newsletter
Stay on top of the latest news, publications, events and more.
Go to Sign-up
Inside the Mind of a C++ Quizmaster
Anders Schau Knatten on Talks, Coding Quirks, and Brainteasers
26 November 2025
Join Jesper Pedersen at NDC Techtown 2025 for an engaging conversation with Anders Schau Knatten—renowned C++ expert, conference speaker, creator of cppquiz.org, and author of "C++ Brain Teasers." Anders shares the story behind his infamous quizzes, his journey from late-night pub trivia to publishing a book, and why understanding low-level programming concepts still matters—even if you don’t need to know all the answers.
Discover:
- How real-world debugging and conference talks inspire Anders’s deep dives into C++ topics like assembly, linking, and real-time safety.
- The philosophy behind learning “just enough assembly” and why most developers don’t need to master every detail.
- The importance of undefined and implementation-defined behavior in C++, and how quirky quiz questions can spark curiosity and learning.
- Anders’s favorite developer tools (hint: sometimes it’s just taking a walk!) and why mastering your environment is key to productivity.
- The fun and challenges of running live quizzes for C++ enthusiasts, and how even the experts get stumped by tricky language details.
Whether you’re a seasoned C++ developer or just curious about the world of programming puzzles, this conversation is packed with insights, laughs, and practical advice. Don’t forget to check out Anders’s quiz site for your own Friday afternoon brain workout!
Links:
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome
01:45 The NDC Techtown conference
02:35 What motivates you to do the presentations you do?
05:54 Why is it important to understand assembler?
08:57 What is the purpose of your book (Brainteasers)
12:30 C++ pub quizzes and cppquiz.org
16:25 What was the idea of converting cppquiz.org into a book?
17:37 What are your top tools?
21:10 A quiz for Anders
About the guest:
Anders Schau Knatten started programming in Turbo Pascal in 1995, and has been programming professionally in various languages since 2001. He's currently a senior software engineer at Squarehead, working on acoustic drone detection systems. He's also the author of the book C++ Brain Teasers, and https://blog.knatten.org
Learn Modern C++
Our hands-on Modern C++ training courses are designed to quickly familiarize newcomers with the language. They also update professional C++ developers on the latest changes in the language and standard library introduced in recent C++ editions.
Learn more