Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Inside the C++ Object Model


Bestselling author Stanley B. Lippman's Inside the C++ Model provides valuable insight into some of the internal workings of the C++ language. This book is a product of a decade of research at Bell Labs (where Lippman worked with C++ inventor Bjarne Stroustrup) and Lippman's considerable C++ expertise. Written with the experienced C++ programmer in mind, this book looks at how key language features are implemented underneath the hood and provides some guidelines when designing C++ classes.

This title first examines how C++ objects work--showing the differences between C++ structures and classes. The author looks carefully at the varieties of C++ constructors, including default and copy constructors, data members, and initialization.

Subsequent sections cover inheritance, including virtual inheritance, and the inner details that will help you create effective and robust data types. The author frequently points out inefficiencies (and efficiencies) that can occur when instantiating objects. The book closes with a tour of more advanced C++ language features, such as templates, exception handling, and run-time type information. This book can help make you the resident C++ language expert at your programming shop. --Richard Dragan

Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books
Read the full review for this book.

Inside the C++ Object Model is aimed at those developers who routinely use C++ but feel the discomfort of not really knowing the underlying weight of many common operations they perform or constructs they peruse.

A particularly fit subset of these programmers is made up of the hardcore plumbers who pay their bills writing C++-based programming tools and libraries, or those who assume the uneasy role of the "official code optimizer" in a medium-to-large development team. Each of these programmers are going to immensely appreciate the intensive coverage of the object-oriented features offered by the language, their run-time overhead (in terms of execution time and binary size), and their influence in compilation times. This knowledge constitutes a major aid when it comes time to decide whether a certain language feature fits your needs without breaking your requirements. Moreover, along the way the text is sprinkled with interesting anecdotes explaining why certain common myths regarding C++ are nothing more than unfounded rant. --Davide Marcato, Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books

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