File IO: Past, Present and Future
Guy Davidson
14:00-15:30, Thursday, 18th April 2024
File IO is a fundamental aspect of system programming. This talk will take you through forty years of file IO from the viewpoint of a game programmer trying to squeeze every last ounce of speed from their device. Along the way, expect answers to questions like:
Why do we have files?
What is a filesystem?
Why should we avoid buffered file IO?
How do we optimise unbuffered file IO?
How might the standard help us in future?
Guy Davidson
![](/static/img/profiles/2024/guy_davidson.jpg)
Guy Davidson has been writing games for most of his life now. He is a co-author of Beautiful C++. He serves on the ISO C++ standards committee and the UK programming languages standards committee. He plays the piano and sings quite a lot.