Effective C++: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Design

by Scott Meyers

Book Overview

"Every C++ professional needs a copy of Effective C++. It is an absolute must-read for anyone thinking of doing serious C++ development. If you've never read Effective C++ and you think you know... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0201924889
• ISBN13: 9780201924886
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Third Edition: Improving an already great book

How do you improve a book that has been known as a "bible" in the C++ community for years? As Scott mentions at the beginning of the text, he almost threw everything out, and started from scratch. When I first say the book, I thought that there are five new items that were added to the book, but I couldn't be more wrong. As you might have guessed, C++ has gone thru a number of significant changes over the past decade, and the third edition of this book is updated to take advantage of the new editions to the C++ standard. In reality, almost every item in this book has gone thru a re-write. Many have been consolidated and new chapters, topics and many new items have been added. A few items that did not make sense anymore like items 2, 3 and 4 in the second edition are removed from this third edition. Scott breaks down the c++ language into 4 subparts: * The old C subsystem. Before all these advanced programming languages such as Java and .NET came, C was the language of choice. C++ is "translated" to C first, and then complied and linked to an executable. * OO C++, which is C with Classes. This is where the concept of Object Orientation in C++ started. Even though this concept was very much new a decade ago, it is very much part of a programmer's vocabulary. * Template C++, which is the newest edition to the C++ standard and it brings with it the concept of Template Metaprogramming. This concept is very much new, and this book has dedicated a whole chapter around templates, and template metaprogramming. * STL, which is the C++ Standard Template Library. Again, STL was a new concept a few years back, but it is very much an established notion in C++. Scott has taken a new approach to this book and has covered all four of these subparts. He has a book dedicated to STL, but he is using STL notions and "language" throughout this book. The chances are that the reader is already familiar with other languages such as Java and .Net, so the text covers area where these two languages differ with C++, especially in the area of inheritance and polymorphism. But not everything has changed. Topics such as,"Explicitly disallow the use of Compiler Generated functions you do not want," will never get old or outdated. New chapters cover topics such as C++ Template and Generic Programming, Resource Allocation and topics that cover the latest C++ standard and additions, including the TR1 (Technical Report 1). "new and delete" have been separated into their own chapter, and the author goes into great depth demonstrating to the reader the various ways that these two operators can be modified, and why. Exceptions and programming in light of exceptions is also a very new concept in C++. The previous versions on this text did not touch on exceptions all that much, but the author has spread the use of exceptions throughout the text, with a number of items dedicated explicitly to exceptions and exceptions handling. The updated items, new

A great collection of tips

This book contains a list of no less that 50 pratical tips for the C++ programmer. These tips are basically just common sense, and the advanced C++ will already know the vast majority of them (he should buy the book anyway just for the ones he doesn't know). The beginning C++ programmer will feel overwhelmed by this book so for those it cannot be recommended. It is mainly targeted the intermediate C++ programmer that have learned the language but have not found experience in using it.My favorite one is the one that tell how to reduce dependencies among files. It is common sense, but I just hadn't thought about it until I read this book. As a result the build time for our company project went down significantly. That was literally *very* valuable advice.The book is extremely well written (even somewhat entertaining!) and both short and consise. I really liked this book, and I recommend any serious C++ programmer to buy it....

Great

There seems to be a whole slew of books out titled " C++" and I suspect this was the first. If not, it should at least be the model.The book is set up as 50 small chapters describing particular principles. Each is useful and clearly-presented in a manner that is not daunting.I've read many C++ books, including many of the books and I have no problem proclaiming this as simply the best. Other books may cover more ground (Stroustrup's books, for example), others may be more current and others may be more advanced (I've recently been humbled by "Exceptional C++") but I think "Effective C++" is the most useful.If you're looking for a book to teach you the language, or if you're just learning the language, I'd say wait a little while before reading this book. If you've been writing code and haven't read this book, go for it. Although it's dated (pre-standard library) the concepts it covers are important ones that have not disappeared after standardization.I hope that when I write my book, "Extraterrestrial C++," I can do half as good a job.

Don't write C++ without it!

After having spent several years programming in C and dabbling in C++ here and there, I felt I had a pretty good grasp of C++. However, after finishing this book, I found myself boldly corrected. The book covers answers to questions that I hadn't even realized that I should be asking. Reading C++ reference books teach you the syntax but completely hide the level of complexity as to what's really going on behind the scenes. To use a quote from the book "Saying what you mean is only half the battle. The flip side of the coin is understanding what you're saying, and it's just as important."What happens if you override a non-virtual function? What does private inheritance do and why would you want to use it? What code will the compiler automatically generate for you if you fail to do so yourself? When should you use references to objects versus the objects themselves? The list goes on and on. It covers the topics of Memory Management, Constructors & Destructors, Operator Overloading, Design & Decleration of Classes and Functions, Implementation, Inheritance and Object Oriented Design. But, most importantly, for every answer - there is a logical explanation of *why* things are the way that they are. Reading this book gave me a new appreciation for the complexity behind C++. It is not a book on syntax, so this should not be the 1st C++ book that you read -- but it should *definitely* be the 2nd! Meyers has an excellent, and amusing(!) writing style which makes the book much easier to read then you'd expect from a technical book. The concepts might still make your brain hurt if you're new to C++, but keep at it -- before you write any C++ code you need to understand what's going on behind the scenes and this book will show it to you.

Don't write C++ code without it...

From beginning to end this book is packed with information that is IMMEDIATELY applicable. For example "Always declare destructors to be virtual" otherwise you may end leaking memory when subclasses are deleted. Or hiding the implementation of a class in an "Impl" that your class just passes through to. That way, if the implementation changes, the clients of the class are protected from recompilation.Beyond the wealth of just downright practical information the oragization is fabulous. The only other technical book that has organization as good as this one is "Design Patterns" There are several chapters such as "Memory Management" that have "Items" and each item has a few paragraphs describing the motivation for why you should believe Meyers with examples to prove it. Then there are solid examples that show the implemantation of an example usage.My company gave this book out with "Design Patterns" to EVERY developer in the company, and it was probably the smartest thing I've ever seen a company do.Read it and learn a TON.