Stroustrup - A Tour of C++

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Bjarne Stroustrup

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stroustrup, Bjarne.
A Tour of C++ / Bjarne Stroustrup.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-321-958310 (pbk. : alk. paper)ISBN 0-321-958314 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. C++ (Computer programming language) I. Title.
QA76.73.C153 S77 2013
005.133dc23 2013002159

Copyright 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, or you may fax your request to (201) 236-3290.

This book was typeset in Times and Helvetica by the author.

ISBN-13: 978-0-321-958310
ISBN-10: 0-321-958314
Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at Edwards Brothers Malloy in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
First printing, September 2013

BJARNE STROUSTRUP, Editor

I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to make it short.

Blaise Pascal

The C++ In-Depth Series is a collection of concise and focused books providing real-world programmers with reliable information about the C++ programming language. Selected by the designer and original implementer of C++, Bjarne Stroustrup, and written by experts in the field, each book in this series presents either a single topic, at a technical level appropriate to that topic, or a fast-paced overview, for a quick understanding of broader language features. Its practical approach, in either case, is designed to lift professionals (and aspiring professionals) to the next level of programming skill or knowledge.

These short books are meant to be read and referenced without the distraction of unrelated material. As C++ matures, it becomes increasingly important to be able to separate essential information from hype and glitz, and to find the deep content and practical guidance needed for continued development. The C++ In-Depth Series provides the background, tools, concepts, techniques, and new approaches that can enable this development, and thereby give readers a valuable, critical edge.

When you wish to instruct, be brief.

Cicero

C++ feels like a new language. That is, I can express my ideas more clearly, more simply, and more directly in C++11 than I could in C++98. Furthermore, the resulting programs are better checked by the compiler and run faster.

Like other modern languages, C++ is large and there are a large number of libraries needed for effective use. This thin book aims to give an experienced programmer an idea of what constitutes modern C++. It covers most major language features and the major standard-library components. This book can be read in just a few hours but, obviously, there is much more to writing good C++ than can be learned in a day. However, the aim here is not mastery, but to give an overview, to give key examples, and to help a programmer get started. For mastery, consider my The C++ Programming Language, Fourth Edition (TC++PL4) [Stroustrup,2013]. In fact, this book is an extended version of the material that constitutes ) can be used to support this tour.

The assumption is that you have programmed before. If not, please consider reading a textbook, such as Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ [Stroustrup,2009], before continuing here. Even if you have programmed before, the language you used or the applications you wrote may be very different from the style of C++ presented here.

As an analogy, think of a short sightseeing tour of a city, such as Copenhagen or New York. In just a few hours, you are given a quick peek at the major attractions, told a few background stories, and usually given some suggestions about what to see next. You do not know the city after such a tour. You do not understand all you have seen and heard. You do not know how to navigate the formal and informal rules that govern life in the city. To really know a city, you have to live in it, often for years. However, with a bit of luck, you will have gained a bit of an overview, a notion of what is special about the city, and ideas of what might be of interest to you. After the tour, the real exploration can begin.

This tour presents the major C++ language features as they support programming styles, such as object-oriented and generic programming. It does not attempt to provide a detailed, reference-manual, feature-by-feature view of the language. Similarly, it presents the standard libraries in terms of examples, rather than exhaustively. It does not describe libraries beyond those defined by the ISO standard. The reader can search out supporting material as needed. [Stroustrup,2009] and [Stroustrup,2012] are examples of such material, but there is an enormous amount of material (of varying quality) available on the Web. For example, when I mention a standard library function or class, its definition can easily be looked up, and by examining the documentation of its header (also easily accessible on the Web), many related facilities can be found.