Product Description

In chess, learning the rules for how the pieces move is simply the first step; to master the game, you must understand the strategies and tactics that guide each move. The same applies to C++. Knowing the right strategies helps you avoid the traps and work more effectively. Luminary Rob Murray helps beginning to intermediate C++ programmers take that next step by sharing his experience and advice. Practical code examples are used throughout to illuminate useful programming strategies and warn against dangerous practices. To further ensure comprehension, each chapter ends with a list of the key ideas introduced in that chapter, along with questions to stimulate thought and discussion. You'll begin by learning how to choose the right abstractions for your design, taking care to preserve the distinction between abstraction and implementation. You'll then look at the process of turning an abstraction into one or more C++ classes, with discussions ranging from high-level design strategies to low-level interface and implementation details.Single and multiple inheritance are explored in depth, beginning with a discussion of where they fit in a design and followed by detailed examples that show how the concepts are used in practice. A separate chapter covers the techniques of building classes from which others can derive, and discusses the benefits - and costs - involved. Rob Murray offers unprecedented insight into the new templates feature, beginning with the basics and walking you through several real-world examples. The author also describes a variety of specific techniques to make your programs faster, more reusable, and more robust. Exceptions are another new C++ feature; Murray gives advice on when they should - and should not - be used. The book concludes with a look at the process of moving a project from C to C++, exploring the human issues as well as the technical ones. 0201563827B04062001

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #247494 in Books
• Published on: 1993-05-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From the Back Cover

In chess, learning the rules for how the pieces move is simply the first step; to master the game, you must understand the strategies and tactics that guide each move. The same applies to C++. Knowing the right strategies helps you avoid the traps and work more effectively. Luminary Rob Murray helps beginning to intermediate C++ programmers take that next step by sharing his experience and advice.

Practical code examples are used throughout to illuminate useful programming strategies and warn against dangerous practices. To further ensure comprehension, each chapter ends with a list of the key ideas introduced in that chapter, along with questions to stimulate thought and discussion.

You'll begin by learning how to choose the right abstractions for your design, taking care to preserve the distinction between abstraction and implementation. You'll then look at the process of turning an abstraction into one or more C++ classes, with discussions ranging from high-level design strategies to low-level interface and implementation details.

Single and multiple inheritance are explored in depth, beginning with a discussion of where they fit in a design and followed by detailed examples that show how the concepts are used in practice. A separate chapter covers the techniques of building classes from which others can derive, and discusses the benefits - and costs - involved.

Rob Murray offers unprecedented insight into the new templates feature, beginning with the basics and walking you through several real-world examples. The author also describes a variety of specific techniques to make your programs faster, more reusable, and more robust. Exceptions are another new C++ feature; Murray gives advice on when they should - and should not - be used. The book concludes with a look at the process of moving a project from C to C++, exploring the human issues as well as the technical ones.

0201563827B04062001

About the Author

Robert B. Murray is President of Sarajen Software, an object-oriented software consulting company in Irvine, California. He was formerly with AT&T Bell Labs, where he was involved in the development of the C++ language, compilers, and libraries. He is the founding editor of The C++ Report, and has been teaching C++ tutorials at academic and professional conferences since 1987.

Customer Reviews

good as a bridge from introductory to modern intermediate C++ books
Like Tom Cargill's C++ Programming Style, this is another widely-recognised classic of the genre which has lost some of its immediacy with the passing of time.

If you're familiar with the works of Scott Meyers and Herb Sutter, then you will probably not find much here that you don't already know (although this clearly predates some of their output). But if you're still fairly new to OO, I recommend this highly as your first non-introductory book. It's got a much more cohesive feel than the Effective C++ and Exceptional C++ books, and unlike the Cargill book, it's sufficiently modern to have covered templates. Bear in mind, though, that the 'advanced' templates chapter is about writing a linked list class. Solid data structure stuff for sure, but not what a C++ practitioner would consider advanced these days.

You can also find lots of solid OOP advice, although you may find it similar to the OOP wisdom dispensed in other C++ of the same vintage. There are some suggestions on 'reusability', although they're more concerned with memory management, and feels more like optimisation. That's not to say that it isn't interesting and accessible, though.

There's a brief introduction to exceptions, but at the time the book was written, they had only just appeared in the language. Likewise, there's nothing about namespaces here.

My 4-star rating takes into account that you can obtain this book cheaply and the material is presented in a clear, readable fashion. If you're already an experienced object oriented programmer, you can safely bypass this book and go straight to the Meyers and Sutter books. If you're not, then this is a good place to start the journey to more advanced work.

A "must read" book for C++ programmers.
Robert Murray's book is fantastic. It is very useful to help a programmer progress from being a beginner to at least an intermediate level C++ programmer. After having read 2 introductory books, I was having trouble finding a book that would help me progress as a C++ programmer. All the books were too elementary or too esoteric (like design patterns). Then I found "C++ Strategies and Tactics" and my prayers were answered. It's so good that I read it twice. I strongly recommend this book. I wish a 2nd edition would come out, now that we have an ANSI Standard C++.

An excellent book !
I've bought this book last year, and i every week use it to deepen my understanding of subtelties of C++. I've enjoyed more the firt chapter about class and the last about templates. The numerous examples give quick and clear comprehension with a clear test. Absolutly excellent !