Product Description

• Written by the inventor of the language, the book is the defining, classic text on the language that has become central to software development over the past five years. This third edition incorporates additions and changes on a major scale. In particular, the new edition is based on the ANSI/ISO C++ final draft with its many new language features - templates, exceptions, namespaces, and run-time type identification, to name a few - in addition to the C++ Standard Template Library that has revolutionized C++ development.
• Throughout, the book does far more than merely describe every element of the language. The focus is on showing how the language is used as a tool for design and programming, and teaching the basic concepts programmers need to master C++. With this third edition, Stroustrup has made the book even more accessible to those new to the language while adding information and techniques that even expert C++ programmers will find invaluable.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #245546 in Books
• Published on: 1997-07-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1040 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In this third edition of The C++ Programming Language, author Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++, presents the full specification for the C++ language and standard library, a spec that will soon become the joint ISO/ANSI C++ standard.

Past readers will find that the new edition has changed a great deal and grown considerably to encompass new language features, particularly run-time type identification, namespaces, and the standard library. At the same time, readers will recognise the lucid style and sensible advice that made previous editions so readable and enjoyable. Probably the biggest change is a substantial new section, well over 200 pages in length, covering the contents and design of the C++ standard library, the most important new feature of the C++ specification. The author has also added a substantial number of new exercises while keeping many from previous editions that have retained their value.

While The C++ Programming Language is not a C++ tutorial, strictly speaking, anyone learning the language, especially those coming from C, will greatly benefit from the clear presentation of all its elements. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this book for anyone who is serious about using C++. --Jake Bond

From the Publisher
Everything you should ever need to know about C++
More than three-quarters of a million programmers have benefited from this book in all of its editions

Written by Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++, this is the world's most trusted and widely read book on C++.

For this special hardcover edition, two new appendixes on locales and standard library exception safety... have been added. The result is complete, authoritative coverage of the C++ language, its standard library, and key design techniques. Based on the ANSI/ISO C++ standard, The C++ Programming Language provides current and comprehensive coverage of all C++ language features and standard library components.

For example: abstract classes as interfaces class hierarchies for object-oriented programming templates as the basis for type-safe generic software exceptions for regular error handling namespaces for modularity in large-scale software run-time type identification for loosely coupled systems the C subset of C++ for C compatibility and system-level work standard containers and algorithms standard strings, I/O streams, and numerics C compatibility, internationalization, and exception safety Bjarne Stroustrup makes C++ even more accessible to those new to the language, while adding advanced information and techniques that even expert C++ programmers will find invaluable.

From the Back Cover

NOTE: Customers of this book, Errata for page 833 is now available in pdf form and can be downloaded from this page.

This is a complete rewrite of the most widely read and most trusted book on C++. Based on the ANSI/ISO C++ final draft, this book covers the C++ language, its standard library, and key design techniques as an integrated whole.

The C++ Programming Language provides comprehensive coverage of C++ language features and standard library components. For example:

• abstract classes as interfaces
• class hierarchies for object-oriented programming
• templates as the basis for type-safe generic software
• exceptions for regular error handling
• namespaces for modularity in large-scale software
• run-time type identification for loosely coupled systems
• the C subset of C++ for C compatibility and system-level work
• standard containers and algorithms
• standard strings, I/O streams, and numerics

With this third edition, Stroustrup makes C++ even more accessible to those new to the language while adding information and techniques that even expert C++ programmers will find invaluable.

Get a value-added service! Try out all the examples from this book at www.codesaw.com. CodeSaw is a free online learning tool that allows you to experiment with live code from your book right in your browser.

Customer Reviews

The best source of knowledge on C++
I've learned C++ from this book first, a few years ago, so my experience is the that of a novice.
On the writing style, I agree with those who say that it could have been written in a clearer way. The reading sometime had to proceed slowly, and sometime turn back a few pages and restart.
On the content, instead, I think that no other book brings the same knowledge in both quantity and quality.
It comes as no surprise that being Stroustrup the first inventor of C++, few people knows it better than him. Through this thousand of pages it is possible to learn plenty and plenty of details about the language. But should is stop here, it would be just another Kernigan & Ritchie. Indeed, the book brings much more. The language is explained through the use of a lot of examples that in reality are true insights on programming techniques. Perhaps you'll follow the classic path of buying this or some other big reference on C++, and then some other lighter book on tecniques and/or coding strategies. I did it, passing through exceptional books (Coplien, Koeing, Meyers). Now, looking back, I realize that much of the stuff I've learned through these latter books, could have been learned through Stroustrup's as well. All this stuff is there. The problem is that you learn them together with the language and the OO notions, so if you are a novice they could not receive the deserved attention (and perhaps they don't have the deserved space in the book. But, after all, I find they are "add-in"s, not the main subject).
And there's still something more. Through the chapter Stroustrup exposes his view on the OO subject. It's a personal view (that lead to the language development as a support), but it's a good one, on my opinion. One that, among the many, deserves respect and that can get a direct match on the most widely used language, together with C.

The complete reference
Without doubt, the most comprehensive explanation and critique of C++ as a language that is available.

Not for beginners, and not an easy read, but this text, above all others, will answer your C++ questions.

The style of writing is particularly good, and if you understand the contents of this book, you understand C++.

It is as 'simple' as that.

THE book for anyone serious about C++, but not necessarily the only one. :)

It's not a tutorial...
I don't know where Amazon got their title for this book from: It's simply "The C++ Programming Language." Nothing about "tutorial" which seems to have been the impression a lot of other reviewers have got.

As such it's not a tutorial - don't buy this as a first taste of C++ or even of programming as a whole. Perhaps have a gawp at Koenig and Moo's "Accelerated C++" instead.

This is the book to use if you want to know how the language and standard library behaves without having a dig around in the language standard itself. While there are more complete references to the standard library, this book is the best I've seen on the language itself.