Fedor G. Pikus - Hands-On Design Patterns with C++: Solve common C++ problems with modern design patterns and build robust applications

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Fedor G. Pikus is a chief engineering scientist in the Design-to-Silicon division of Mentor Graphics (a Siemens business), and is responsible for the long-term technical direction of Calibre products, the design and architecture of software, and research into new software technologies. His earlier positions include senior software engineer at Google and chief software architect at Mentor Graphics. Fedor is a recognized expert on high-performance computing and C++. He has presented his works at CPPCon, SD West, DesignCon, and in software development journals, and is also an O'Reilly author. Fedor has over 25 patents, and over 100 papers and conference presentations on physics, EDA, software design, and C++.

Cale Dunlap has been writing code in various languages since high school, when he wrote his first video game mod for Half-Life in 1999. In 2002, he contributed to the semi-popular Firearms mod for Half-Life and eventually helped bring that same video game mod to the Source Engine as FirearmsSource. He's earned an associate's degree in computer information systems and a bachelor's degree in game and simulation programming. He's worked professionally as a software developer for small companies since 2005, contributing to software ranging from web applications to military simulations. He currently works as a senior interactive developer for a creative agency based in Orange County, California, called Column Five.

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Another book on design patterns in C++? Why that, and why now? Hasn't everything there is to know about design patterns been written already?

There are several reasons why yet another book on design patterns has been written, but first of all, this is very much a C++ bookthis is not a book on design patterns in C++ but a book on design patterns in C++, and the emphasis sets it apart. C++ has all the capabilities of a traditional object-oriented language, so all the classic object-oriented design patterns, such as Factory and Strategy, can be implemented in C++. A few of those are covered in this book. But the full power of C++ is realized when you utilize its generic programming capabilities. Remember that design patterns are frequently occurring design challenges and the commonly accepted solutionboth sides are equally important in a pattern. It stands to reason that when new tools become available, new solutions become possible. Over time, the community settles on some of these solutions as the most advantageous overall, and a new variation of an old design pattern is bornthe same challenge, but a different preferred solution. But expanding capabilities also open up new frontierswith new tools at our disposal, new design challenges arise.

In this book, we focus on design patterns where C++ has something essential to add to at least one of the two sides of the pattern. On the one hand, we have patterns such as Visitor, where the generic programming capabilities of C++ allow for a better solution. That better solution was made possible by new features added in recent versions of the language, from C++11 to C++17. On the other hand, generic programming is still programming (only the execution of the program happens at compile time); programming requires design, and design has common challenges that are not all that dissimilar to the challenges of traditional programming. Thus, many of the traditional patterns have their twins, or at least close siblings, in generic programming, and we largely focus on those patterns in this book. A prime example is the Strategy pattern, better known in the generic programming community by its alternative name, the Policy pattern. Finally, a language as complex as C++ is bound to have a few idiosyncrasies of its own that often lead to C++, specific challenges that have common, or