Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs

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

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
Scott Meyers is one of the world's foremost authorities on C++, providing training and consulting services to clients worldwide. He is the author of the best-selling Effective C++ series of books (Effective C++, More Effective C++, and Effective STL) and of the innovative Effective C++ CD. He is consulting editor for Addison Wesley's Effective Software Development Series and is a founding member of the Advisory Board for The C++ Source (http://www.artima.com/cppsource). He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Brown University. His web site is http://www.aristeia.com.