Be familiar with the C++ Core Guidelines

The C++ Core Guidelines is a living, actively maintained document that provides best practices for writing high-quality C++ code.

Widely considered the canonical source for modern C++ standards, these guidelines should be familiar to every C++ developer and used as a primary reference when writing or reviewing code.

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.

- Samuel Johnson in The Life of Samuel Johnson Including a Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, Vol 2