C++ In Action.pdf

Contents

1. Preface

2. Introduction

3. Language

4. Techniques

5. Windows

Techniques

6. Software

Project

7. Appendix

Chinese Edition

The Chinese Translation has been made available in mainland China by

Post & Telecom Press.

Incredible Bargains

You can buy a used copy of the book for ridiculously low price

(less than $10) through some discount sellers on Amazon.

Apparently my book was selected as a bait to attract buyers who

might also buy more expensive books. I have no problem with it, as

long as it makes the book affordable to more people. So enjoy!

You can also buy it new at Barnes and Noble .

Questions and Errors

If you find any errors in the printed version that are not already

listed in the errata , post it on our forum . You can also ask C++ and

Windows programming questions there.

Compilers

Some code samples on the book's CD-ROM will not compile using

the (non-standard-compliant) Microsoft Visual C++ v. 6.0. They will

compile with the current v. 7.0, a.k.a. VisualStudio.NET .

Except maybe for Window-specific programs in the second part of

the book, you may try using other compilers. These are some

recommendations from the readers (I haven't tried them):

The Windows based MinGW on http://www.mingw.org/ which is

based upon GCC, but do not have any (GNU) license issues.

The Dev-C++ editor at http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html

which is an full-featured Integrated Development Environment

(IDE) for Win32 and Linux. It uses GCC, Mingw or Cygwin as

compiler and libraries.

Instructions for browsing off-line

Preface to the Web edition

This is a Web Book . It is being published on the Internet by me,

the author. I realize that the technology is still not there--the

technology that would make a web book as easy to read as its paper

based relative. Computer monitors still lag behind paper in terms of

resolution, portability and price. Fortunately, you won't need to

spend hours connected to the Internet--there are easy ways browse

the web off-line (see link above).

Other than that, a web book is a great thing for both the author and

the reader (or, should I say, the user). For the author it offers a

much richer medium. I can control the layout, the fonts, the colors

and the pictures. Notice that most paper books are monochromatic--

the few that offer color (especially throughout) are quite expensive.

On the web, I can go crazy with colors, textures, fonts and pictures.

Not that I'm planning to, mind you; I will try to strike a reasonable

balance between a typerwriter copy and a tabloid.

But that's only the beginning. The web lets me do things that are

quite impossible to do on paper. First of all, a web book is a

hypertext document. I can embed jumps to related topics, embed

links to in-depth explanations or author's own views--I can digress

as much as I want. Second, I can let the reader download code

samples and work with them off line. And third, I can add movement

and sound to my book and I can make it interactive by embedding

Java applets.

The hope is that all these enhancements will not only make the web

book more interesting for the reader, but that they will help the

learning process. More importantly, though, Industrial Strength

Programming is part of a bigger, ambitious plan to transition

programming into the 21st century. Since form should follow

function, what's a better form for 21st century ideas than a web

book?

From the financial point of view, a web book brings no direct

revenue to the author, although it might increase trafic to the

Reliable Software home page and help sell its products. But that's a

blessing in disguise, because, having no marketing constraints, I can

start publishing this book right now, as-is, and do it in increments

(although the book is 90% written, it will take time to convert it to

meaningful hypertext). Moreover, I can keep improving the book

interactively--something a paper-bound author can't do without

waiting for the next edition. It also means that I can accept

feedback from readers and respond to legitimate criticism by simply

fixing the book.

Organization of this book

Code samples from this book are directly downloadable in zipped

form. Every time you see an icon like the one on the left, you can

click on it and download the source.

The image of a rotten apple will accompany sermons about bad

programming practices and tips on how to avoid bugs.

Bartosz Milewski, Aug 1, 1997

Preface

Why This Book?

During the first four month of 1994 I was presented with a

wonderful opportunity. My old University in Wroclaw,

Poland, invited me to give two courses for the students of

Computer Physics. The choice of topics was left entirely to

my discretion. I knew exactly what I wanted to teach...

My work at Microsoft gave me the unique experience of

working on large software projects and applying and

developing state of the art design and programming

methodologies. Of course, there are plenty of books on the

market that talk about design, programming paradigms,

languages, etc. Unfortunately most of them are either

written in a dry academic style and are quite obsolete, or

they are hastily put together to catch the latest vogue.

There is a glut of books teaching programming in C, C++

and, more recently, in Java. They teach the language, all

right, but rarely do they teach programming.

We have to realize that we are witnessing an

unprecedented explosion of new hardware and software

technologies. For the last twenty years the power of

computers grew exponentially, almost doubling every year.

Our software experience should follow this exponential

curve as well. Where does this leave books that were

written ten or twenty years ago? And who has time to write

new books? The academics? The home programmers? The

conference crowd? What about people who are active full

time, designing and implementing state of the art

software? They have no time!

In fact I could only dream about writing this book while

working full time at Microsoft. I had problems finding time

to share experiences with other teams working on the

same project. We were all too busy writing software. And

then I managed to get a four-month leave of absence. This

is how this book started.

Teaching courses to a live, demanding audience is the best

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