Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs » (3rd Edition)

Scott Meyers is one of the world's foremost authorities on C++, providing training and consulting services to clients worldwide. He is the author of the best-selling Effective C++ series of books (Effective C++, More Effective C++, and Effective STL) and of the innovative Effective C++ CD. He is consulting editor for Addison Wesley's Effective Software Development Series and is a founding member of the Advisory Board for The C++ Source (http://www.artima.com/cppsource). He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Brown University. His web site is http://www.aristeia.com.

Meyers offers his insights on writing C++ software that is comprehensible, maintainable, portable, extensible, efficient, and likely to behave as expected. Topics of the 55 items include: declare destructors virtual in polymorphic base classes, copy all parts of an object, postpone variable definitions as long as possible, avoid hiding inherited names, and pay attention to compiler warnings. The third edition adds chapters on resource management and programming with templates. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Slashdot.org

A major re-write and re-org. Do you need this book? If you program C++, yes, you probably do, even if you have a previous edition. Don't let the "Third Edition" faze you, because it has lots of new insights into the vagaries of the C++ language. And if you're new to C++, this is pretty much a must-own book.

Preface  xvAcknowledgments  xviiIntroduction  1Chapter 1: Accustoming Yourself to C++  11

Item 1: View C++ as a federation of languages.  11

Item 2: Prefer consts, enums, and inlines to #defines.  13

Item 3: Use const whenever possible.  17

Item 4: Make sure that objects are initialized before they’re used.  26Chapter 2: Constructors, Destructors, and Assignment Operators  34

Item 5: Know what functions C++ silently writes and calls.  34

Item 6: Explicitly disallow the use of compiler-generated functions you do not want.  37

Item 7: Declare destructors virtual in polymorphic base classes.  40

Item 8: Prevent exceptions from leaving destructors.  44

Item 9: Never call virtual functions during construction or destruction.  48

Item 10: Have assignment operators return a reference to *this.  52

Item 11: Handle assignment to self in operator=.  53

Item 12: Copy all parts of an object.  57Chapter 3: Resource Management  61

Item 13: Use objects to manage resources.  61

Item 14: Think carefully about copying behavior in resource-managing classes.  66

Item 15: Provide access to raw resources in resource-managing classes.  69

Item 16: Use the same form in corresponding uses of new and delete.  73

Item 17: Store newed objects in smart pointers in standalone statements.  75Chapter 4: Designs and Declarations  78

Item 18: Make interfaces easy to use correctly and hard to use incorrectly.  78

Item 19: Treat class design as type design.  84

Item 20: Prefer pass-by-reference-to-const to pass-by-value.  86

Item 21: Don’t try to return a reference when you must return an object.  90

Item 22: Declare data members private.  94

Item 23: Prefer non-member non-friend functions to member functions.  98

Item 24: Declare non-member functions when type conversions should apply to all parameters. 102

Item 25: Consider support for a non-throwing swap.  106Chapter 5: Implementations  113

Item 26: Postpone variable definitions as long as possible.  113

Item 27: Minimize casting.  116

Item 28: Avoid returning “handles” to object internals.  123

Item 29: Strive for exception-safe code.  127

Item 30: Understand the ins and outs of inlining.  134

Item 31: Minimize compilation dependencies between files.  140Chapter 6: Inheritance and Object-Oriented Design  149

Item 32: Make sure public inheritance models “is-a.”  150

Item 33: Avoid hiding inherited names.  156

Item 34: Differentiate between inheritance of interface and inheritance of implementation.  161

Item 35: Consider alternatives to virtual functions.  169

Item 36: Never redefine an inherited non-virtual function.  178

Item 37: Never redefine a function’s inherited default parameter value.  180

Item 38: Model “has-a” or “is-implemented-in-terms-of” through composition.  184

Item 39: Use private inheritance judiciously.  187

Item 40: Use multiple inheritance judiciously.  192Chapter 7: Templates and Generic Programming  199

Item 41: Understand implicit interfaces and compile-time polymorphism.  199

Item 42: Understand the two meanings of typename.  203

Item 43: Know how to access names in templatized base classes.  207

Item 44: Factor parameter-independent code out of templates.  212

Item 45: Use member function templates to accept “all compatible types.”  218

Item 46: Define non-member functions inside templates when type conversions are desired.  222

Item 47: Use traits classes for information about types.  226

Item 48: Be aware of template metaprogramming.  233Chapter 8: Customizing new and delete  239

Item 49: Understand the behavior of the new-handler.  240

Item 50: Understand when it makes sense to replace new and delete.  247

Item 51: Adhere to convention when writing new and delete.  252

Item 52: Write placement delete if you write placement new.  256Chapter 9: Miscellany  262

Item 53: Pay attention to compiler warnings.  262

Item 54: Familiarize yourself with the standard library, including TR1.  263

Item 55: Familiarize yourself with Boost.  269Appendix A: Beyond Effective C++  273Appendix B: Item Mappings Between Second and Third Editions  277Index  280