C++ in Real Projects: Cases from Google to Games

C++ in Real Projects: Company Cases That Will Surprise You

When we hear "C++", most people immediately recall university labs, console calculators, and endless debates about smart pointers. But in reality, C++ is an invisible language that powers the most critical systems in the world. Without it, a plane won't take off, Google won't load, and your favorite game won't start. In this article, we'll analyze real company cases that use C++ in production, look at live code, and understand why this language is still on top.

Why Is C++ Still Relevant? (A Quick Primer)

Before diving into the cases, let's recall the main features of C++ that make it indispensable in real projects:

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• Performance without compromise — manual memory management and zero-cost abstractions allow you to squeeze the maximum out of hardware.
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• Direct hardware access — ideal for embedded, drivers, and OS.
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• Multithreading and asynchrony — modern C++ (11/14/17/20) provides powerful tools for parallelism.
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• Huge codebase — millions of lines of legacy code that no one will rewrite in Rust or Go.
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Now let's move on to the most interesting part — how this looks in real companies.

Case 1: Google — Search and Beyond

Where is C++ used at Google?

You'll be surprised, but Google is one of the largest consumers of C++ in the world. Written in C++ are:

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• The core of the search engine (Google Search).
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• Chrome (Blink engine, V8).
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• TensorFlow (part of the backend).
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• Google File System and Bigtable.
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Real code from Google: smart pointers and performance

Google actively uses its own smart pointers (e.g., std::unique_ptr and custom absl::StatusOr). Here's a simplified example of how Google handles errors without exceptions (exceptions are banned in most of the code):

#include <absl/status/statusor.h>\n#include <iostream>\n\n// Function that may return an error\nabsl::StatusOr<int> Divide(int a, int b) {\n    if (b == 0) {\n        return absl::InternalError("Division by zero is forbidden!");\n    }\n    return a / b;\n}\n\nint main() {\n    auto result = Divide(10, 2);\n    if (result.ok()) {\n        std::cout << "Result: " << *result << std::endl;\n    } else {\n        std::cerr << "Error: " << result.status().message() << std::endl;\n    }\n    return 0;\n}

Why is that? In high-load systems, exceptions can be expensive. Google prefers explicit error checking via StatusOr — this provides predictable performance.

Case 2: Facebook (Meta) — Social Network on C++

Where is C++ at Facebook?

Facebook uses C++ in several key components:

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• HHVM — virtual machine for PHP (written in C++).
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• Folly — library for high-performance C++.
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• Proxygen — HTTP framework.
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• Part of the backend for the news feed.
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Example: asynchronous HTTP server with Proxygen

Facebook developed Proxygen to handle millions of requests per second. Here's what a minimal echo server looks like:

#include <proxygen/httpserver/HTTPServer.h>\n#include <proxygen/httpserver/RequestHandler.h>\n#include <proxygen/httpserver/ResponseBuilder.h>\n\nusing namespace proxygen;\n\nclass EchoHandler : public RequestHandler {\npublic:\n    void onRequest(std::unique_ptr<HTTPMessage> headers) noexcept override {}\n    \n    void onBody(std::unique_ptr<folly::IOBuf> body) noexcept override {\n        body_ = std::move(body);\n