Essential C++

by Stanley B. Lippman

"Readers can pick up this book and become familiar with C++ in a short time. Stan has taken a very broad and complicated topic and reduced it to the essentials that budding C++ programmers need to know to write real programs. His case study is effective and provides a familiar thread throughout the book." --Steve Vinoski,IONA For the practicing programmer with little time to spare, Essential C++ offers a fast-track to learning and working with C++ on the job. This book is specifically designed to bring you up to speed in a short amount of time. It focuses on the elements of C++ programming that you are most likely to encounter and examines features and techniques that help solve real-world programming challenges. Essential C++ presents the basics of C++ in the context of procedural, generic, object-based, and object-oriented programming. It is organized around a series of increasingly complex programming problems, and language features are introduced as solutions to these problems. In this way you will not only learn about the functions and structure of C++, but will understand their purpose and rationale. You will find in-depth coverage of key topics such * Generic programming and the Standard Template Library (STL) * Object-based programming and class design * Object-oriented programming and the design of class hierarchies * Function and class template design and use * Exception handling and Run-Time Type Identification In addition, an invaluable appendix provides complete solutions to, and detailed explanations of, the programming exercises found at the end of each chapter. A second appendix offers a quick reference handbook for the generic algorithms, providing an example of how each is used. This concise tutorial will give you a working knowledge of C++ and a firm foundation on which to further your professional expertise.

Genres: Programming, Computer Science, Computers

292 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 1999

Reviews

[Ettore Pasquini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love terseness in programming books but this goes too far. It was my first C++ book, and it didn't really do a good job at explaining the language to a pretty senior programmer. The prose is convoluted and sometimes appears non-consequential: you kind of have to decipher its true meaning, which I think it's horrible for a tech book. On the other hand, it does expose you to the basics, and you know the writer is knowledgeable.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief, a bit dated, yet still useful reading

While it is a good primer on the C++ programming language and is still useful reading 15 years after publication, this book is too short to impart much information to anyone near the beginner level. It opens with the equivalent of a “Hello World!” program and goes through the basic operators, control constructs and file I/O by page 34.
The basics of functions, overloading, templates and pointers to functions takes you to page 67. Generic programming, object-based programming, iterators, copy assignment, object-oriented programming with inheritance and virtual functions, dynamic binding, programming with templates and exception handling take you to the end on page 204.
Exercises to reinforce the material are included and solutions to all appear in appendix A. Appendix B is a generic algorithms handbook. They will stretch your understanding of the subject matter.
The concept of having a book containing the “essentials” of C++ is a solid one, however the language is large and complex. What the essential components of C++ are is very much within the mind of the user and any small book such as this is by necessity the result of a great deal of selection.
Nevertheless, the reader that has programming experience will find value in this book, especially if they work through the exercises.

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