"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 everything about C++, think again."
- Steve Schirripa, Software Engineer, Google "C++ and the C++ community have grown up in the last fifteen years, and the third edition of Effective C++ reflects this. The clear and precise style of the book is evidence of Scott's deep insight and distinctive ability to impart knowledge."
- Gerhard Kreuzer, Research and Development Engineer, Siemens AG The first two editions of Effective C++ were embraced by hundreds of thousands of programmers worldwide. The reason is clear: Scott Meyers' practical approach to C++ describes the rules of thumb used by the experts - the things they almost always do or almost always avoid doing - to produce clear, correct, efficient code.
The book is organized around 55 specific guidelines, each of which describes a way to write better C++. Each is backed by concrete examples. For this third edition, more than half the content is new, including added chapters on managing resources and using templates. Topics from the second edition have been extensively revised to reflect modern design considerations, including exceptions, design patterns, and multithreading.
Important features of Effective C++ include:
Expert guidance on the design of effective classes, functions, templates, and inheritance hierarchies.
Applications of new "TR1" standard library functionality, along with comparisons to existing standard library components.
Insights into differences between C++ and other languages (e.g., Java, C#, C) that help developers from those languages assimilate "the C++ way" of doing things.
Preface xv Acknowledgments xvii Introduction 1 Chapter 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. 26
Chapter 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. 57
Chapter 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. 75
Chapter 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. 106
Chapter 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. 140
Chapter 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. 192
Chapter 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. 233
Chapter 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. 256
Chapter 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. 269
Appendix A: Beyond Effective C++ 273 Appendix B: Item Mappings Between Second and Third Editions 277 Index 280
