ISBN 0-201-56364-9 224 pages 1992
"This is a 193-page masterpiece that I read in one sitting... I
guarantee that some combination of these 50 items will grab and
enlighten you, and repay your modest investment... This is a
well-written, honest book aimed at C++ programmers who are converging
toward fluency and effectiveness." - Stan Kelly-Bootle, Unix Review
Scott Meyers presents 50 concise rules based on what experienced
C++ developers almost always do, or almost always avoid, to create
efficient, portable, and maintainable software. Each rule is
accompanied by examples that illustrate the rule at work. If you want
to be a proficient C++ programmer, you will need to understand the
complex interactions between the many features in the language. This
incisive guide offers insight into the most important interactions.
Among its unique benefits, this book offers:
This book corresponds to the definition of C++, including
templates and exceptions, found in The Annotated C++ Reference Manual
by Ellis and Stroustrup, and is also must reading for programmers with
compilers supporting earlier versions of the language. With this book,
you will learn how to write large scale software even if your compiler
does not provide for nested types, templates, or exceptions. Meyers
assumes a working knowledge of C++.
Scott Meyers, a recognized authority on C++, received his Ph.D. in
computer science from Brown University. He is a columnist for the C++
Report and is also a senior member of the research and development
staff at the Institute for Advanced Professional Studies, where he was
the primary developer of their introductory and advanced C++ training
courses.
This book is a direct outgrowth of my experiences teaching C++ to
professional programmers through the Institute for Advanced
Professional Studies. I found that most students, after a week of
intensive instruction, felt comfortable with the basic constructs of
the language, but were less sanguine about their ability to put the
constructs together in an effective manner. Thus began my attempt to
formulate short, specific, easy-to-remember guidelines for effective
software development in C++: a summary of the things that experienced
C++ programmers either almost always do or almost always avoid.
As a computer scientist, I was originally interested in rules that
could be checked by a machine. To that end, I outlined a program to
examine C++ software for constructs that were "almost always wrong."
Currently under development, this checking program has become known as
lint++. However, it quickly became apparent that the great majority of
the guidelines used by good C++ programmers were too difficult to
formalize, or had too many important exceptions, to be blindly
enforced by a lint++-like program.
That led me to the notion of something less precise than a
computer program but still more focused and to-the-point than a
general C++ textbook. The result you now hold in your hands: a book
containing 50 specific suggestions on how to improve your C++ programs
and designs.
In this book you'll find advice on what you should do, and why,
and what you should not do, and why not. Fundamentally, of course, the
whys are much more important than the whats, but from a purely
pragmatic point of view, it is much more convenient to have a list of
guidelines in front of you than it is to memorize a textbook or two.
Unlike most books on C++, my presentation here is not organized around
particular language features. That is, I don't talk about constructors
in one place, about virtual functions in another, about inheritance in
a third, etc. Instead, each explanation is tightly coupled to the
specific guideline it accompanies, and my coverage of the various
aspects of a particular feature is typically dispersed throughout the
book.
The advantage of this approach is that it better reflects the
complexity of the software systems for which C++ is often chosen,
systems in which the understanding of individual language features is
not enough. For example, experienced C++ developers know that
understanding inline functions and understanding virtual destructors
does not necessarily mean that you understand inline virtual
destructors. Such battle-scarred developers recognize that
comprehending the interactions between the features in C++ is of the
greatest possible importance in using the language effectively. The
organization of this book reflects that fundamental truth.
The disadvantage of my approach is that you may have to look in
more than one place to discover everything I have to say about a
particular construct in C++. To minimize the inconvenience inherent in
this approach, I have sprinkled cross-references liberally throughout
the text, and a comprehensive index is provided at the end of the
book.
The set of guidelines in this book is far from exhaustive, but
coming up with good rules - ones that are applicable to almost all
applications almost all the time - is harder than it looks. Perhaps
you know of additional guidelines, of more ways in which to program
effectively in C++. If so, I would be delighted to hear about them.
On the other hand, you may feel that some of the items in this
book are inappropriate as general advice; that there is a better way
to accomplish a task examined in the book; or that one or more of the
technical discussions is unclear, incomplete, or misleading. I
encourage you to let me know about these things, too.
Donald Knuth has a long history of offering a small reward for
people who notify him of errors in his books. The quest for a perfect
book is laudable in any case, but in view of the number of bug-ridden
C++ books that have been rushed to market, I feel especially strongly
compelled to follow Knuth's example. Therefore, for each error in this
book that is reported to me - be it technical, grammatical,
typographical, or otherwise - I will, in future printings, gladly
acknowledge the first person to report that error.
Send your suggested guidelines, your comments, your criticisms,
and - sigh - your bug reports to:
Scott Meyers c/o Editor-in-Chief, Corporate and Professional Publishing Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867 U. S. A.
Alternatively, you may send electronic mail to [email protected].
I maintain a
list of changes
to this book since its first printing, including bug-fixes,
clarifications, and technical updates. This list is available via
anonymous FTP from the Internet site wilma.cs.brown.edu in the file
pub/Effective_C++_errata.txt. If you would like a copy of this file,
but you lack access to the Internet, please send a request to one of
the addresses above, and I will see that the list is sent to you.
SCOTT DOUGLAS MEYERS PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND NOVEMBER 1991