How did they managed to pull this off so quickly? Given how long WebGPU native is in development and still not finalized, you would think it will take SDL GPU API even longer because it supports more platforms.
"No prototypes. Just make the game. Polish as you go. Don't depend on polish happening later. Always maintain constantly shippable code." - John Romero
1. Modern C++ is obviously a huge topic but if I had to describe it in one sentence I'd go for "use smart pointers and containers instead of raw pointers and raw arrays" or "c++ is more than c with classes". If you are completely new to C++ I would recommend "Professional C++" 4th or 5th edition by Marc Gregoire. After that read everything by Scott Meyers and Bjarne Stroustrup you can get (released after 2011).
2. You could use Bazel. Also look into CMake, it's an industry standard, so to speak, and will let you generate build files for almost any kind of build system including Makefiles.
3. I don't use any but some people have success with vcpkg.
4. Clangd is a good choice.
5. A quick one that works is VSCode + clangd and CMake extensions. Clangd will let you format, lint and do some basic static code analysis. Installing clangd extension will install clangd automatically. Or, if you are on Windows, "Visual Studio: Community edition" is even easier to start with right away.
Free will never made any sense to me as soon I started to think about such things. Events are either deterministic or random. None of that involves freedom of choice.
* Blockchain - this is usually the first that comes to mind.
* Rust - "hmm, where would I use it now?" is the question you'll ask if you just learned Rust but knew C++ already.
* Vulkan / Direct3d12 - yes, you now have the ability to recreate your own driver from scratch, but who has time for that? Even Microsoft Flight Simulator uses Direct3d 11. GPU ray-tracing will force you to use one of those though anyway.
OpenGL 4.5 has named objects which makes working with OpenGL feel less archaic. Also 3.3 version doesn't have tessellation shaders. But for some reson OpenGL 3.3 is still being called "a modern OpenGL".
I'm not a doctor (obviously) but, as I understand, the solution to OCD is not to give in to your compulsions. Suffer through your discomfort and anxiety without performing any actions to control your discomfort and anxiety. Treat your compulsions as your enemy rather than your unpleasant internal states.
gamedev.net forums have always been a civil place with a lot of industry experts hanging around. You don't have to be a game developer, though, you can discuss any general graphics and programming questions. Unfortunately it has been going down in popularity every year.