Imperfect C++: Practical Solutions for Real-Life Programming (Paperback)

C++ is one of the most important languages today, but, as with all languages, it is not perfect. Far from it. Hence the topic (and title) of this book: practical techniques for dealing with problems that arise in C++ programming not because the programmer is inexperienced or incompetent, but because this otherwise powerful language is itself deficient in some respect.This book reduces the frustration and indecision programmers experience everyday when using C++. Far from being stymied by a lack of expressiveness in the language, it is commonly the vast array of potential paradigms and techniques supported by C++ that causes the problems. Too many choices.Too much complexity. Where to begin? Where to go? The author, having himself experienced inherent C++ deficiencies for years, presents detailed solutions for dealing with the aggravating problems they cause programmers.

Imperfect C++

C++, although a marvelous language, isn't perfect. Matthew Wilson has been working with it for over a decade, and during that time he has found inherent limitations that require skillful workarounds. In this book, he doesn't just tell you what's wrong with C++, but offers practical techniques and tools for writing code that's more robust, flexible, efficient, and maintainable. He shows you how to tame C++'s complexity, cut through its vast array of paradigms, take back control over your code—and get far better results.

If you're a long-time C++ developer, this book will help you see your programming challenges in new ways—and illuminate powerful techniques you may never have tried. If you're newer to C++, you'll learn principles that will make you more effective in all of your projects. Along the way, you'll learn how to:

• Overcome deficiencies in C++'s type system

• Enforce software design through constraints, contracts, and assertions

• Handle behavior ignored by the standard— including issues related to dynamic libraries, static objects, and threading

• Achieve binary compatibility between dynamically loading components

• Understand the costs and disadvantages of implicit conversions—and the alternatives

• Increase compatibility with diverse compilers, libraries, and operating environments

• Help your compiler detect more errors and work more effectively

• Understand the aspects of style that impact reliability

• Apply the Resource Acquisition Is Initialization mechanism to a wide variety of problem domains

• Manage the sometimes arcane relationship between arrays and pointers

• Use template programming to improve flexibility and robustness

• Extend C++: including fast string concatenation, a true NULL-pointer, flexible memory buffers, Properties, multidimensional arrays, and Ranges

The CD-ROM contains a valuable variety of C++ compilers, libraries, test programs, tools, and utilities, as well as the author's related journal articles. New and updated imperfections, along with software libraries and example code are available online at http://imperfectcplusplus.com.

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