2019: C++

He clicked .

Frustrated, he opened the and ran dumpbin /symbols VoxelGrid.obj .

Then, at 11:47 PM, it happened.

?serialize@VoxelGrid@@UEAAXAEAVArchive@@@Z (in the .obj file)

He tried the classic "Clean Solution" — no change. He deleted the .vs folder — no change. He turned off precompiled headers — no change. He whispered an ancient mantra: "It’s not the compiler, it’s you." — still no change. c++ 2019

In the header, he had declared: virtual void serialize(const Archive& ar) override;

He closed Visual Studio, which took an unusually long time to shut down, as if it was reluctant to let him go. He leaned back, looked at the rain, and thought: I could have written this in Rust. But then who would keep the ghosts of C++ alive? He clicked

It was a cold November night in 2019. Rain lashed against the window of Leo’s tiny home office, but he didn’t notice. His screen glowed with the familiar, comforting, and utterly infuriating blue light of Visual Studio 2019.