Applied C++: Practical Techniques for Building Better Software [Paperback]

Philip Romanik (Author), Amy Muntz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0321108949 | ISBN-13: 978-0321108944

This book takes C++ a step further from the books that describe specific features of C++. It provides concrete techniques and methods for delivering commercial-quality software; software that must be portable across many platforms, meet performance goals, and be maintainable and understandable both to customers and internal developers alike. The authors include a simple image processing system to demonstrate the techniques of developing robust C++ software; it's a really fun and interesting system for programmers and developers. After reading the book, you will have an image processing framework that is useful for manipulating digital images and a practical toolkit of C++ utilities. This book is unique because it is about software development, not just programming. Sections like Reusable Code and Portability will get the reader thinking about more than trying to come up with the fastest way to code the solution to a problem.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"I really like the software engineering advice given here. As the chief engineer/architect for a large development group, I can say with certainty that the advice given in this book about how real-world projects must work is right on the mark."

--Steve Vinoski, coauthor of Advanced CORBA Programming with C++, columnist for C/C++ Users Journal and IEEE Internet Computing, and Chief Architect, IONA Technologies

Applied C++ is a practical, straightforward guide to developing high-quality, maintainable software. It reflects the power of C++, templates, and the Standard Template Library for industrial-strength programming. Whether you are a single developer or work in a large team, the tips and techniques presented in this book will help you improve your language and design skills and show you how to solve substantial problems more effectively.

The authors, drawing on their extensive professional experience, teach largely by example. To illustrate software techniques useful for any application, they develop a toolkit to solve the complex problem of digital image manipulation. By using a concrete, real-world problem and describing exact feature, performance, and extensibility requirements, the authors show you how to leverage existing software components and the tools inherent in C++ to speed development, promote reuse, and deliver successful software products.

Inside Applied C++, you will find:

• A C++ templates primer
• Workable coding guidelines and extensive coding examples
• Quick lists of need-to-know information about Exceptions, Assertions, and Standard Template Library components
• A technique for effectively using prototypes to move your design from an initial concept to a robust solution
• A technique for building debugging support into your software without a ton of overhead
• Thirteen specific techniques to improve the overall performance of your software

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About the Author

Philip Romanik is an independent consultant who has been designing and implementing real-world software applications for the past twenty years. He is an expert in the development of real-time, embedded software for performance-intensive applications. He has created patentable technology for his clients and has provided services to such leading companies as Eastman Kodak and Microsoft.

Amy Muntz is an independent consultant who holds advanced technical and business degrees, and writes from broad experience in both fields. She specializes in the development and management of aggressive software projects, successfully helping her clients over the past fifteen years build and market products that meet their business objectives.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321108949
• ISBN-13: 978-0321108944
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,522,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great idea, terrible execution, July 29, 2003

By 

Andrew Hall (Burlington, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Applied C++: Practical Techniques for Building Better Software (Paperback)

A true disappointment. Other books in the series (Sutter, Alexandrescu, Koenig & Moo) have been instant classics, but I get the feeling that Stroustrup didn't really read this one (he's the "series editor", not the "book editor", and not mentioned in the acknowledgements). If he had, I doubt he'd let the following gems see the light of print:

-- "It is easy to spend too much time researching the problem in hopes of finding the most efficient STL component. For example, we could have also chosen to use std::set, as this matches the requirements of our object very closely. ...If you have not used many STL components, you will soon discover that you end up using only a small subset of objects..." (p. 107) In the context, the authors have just selected a std::map whose value type they plan to ignore completely. The C++ standard library is TINY compared to most other currently popular languages, and much more consistent. Wouldn't it be more worthwhile to take a second to learn about std::set just this once, so you'd remember it next time?

--"Namespaces were added to the language to prevent name collisions, but aside from their use in the standard C++ library, we have seen little use of them elsewhere." (p.74) Then, they go on to advocate prefixing all class names, a la "apString". Why not just make an "ap" namespace, if you realize that that's what namespaces are for? Maybe they haven't seen any use of namespaces because they systematically avoid them out of sheer stubbornness?

The book is filled with other inane advice displayed in special boxes: "If you decide to graphically depict your object relationships, take advantage of both axes to represent them." Darn, why didn't I realize this sheet of paper was two dimensional? Glad I bought the book!

The only remotely redeeming factor is the stuff on image processing, but any two-bit text devoted to image processing would be better. Heck, just about anything you could dig up on Google would be just as good, I imagine.

Finally, the included CD stinks. After all that, what you get is essentially a makefile with some lousy code--not even a dummy application that lets you see it in action.

I wish I could give it 0 stars, but it doesn't seem to be possible. Don't waste your money--almost any other AW book on C++ would be a better choice.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book, May 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Applied C++: Practical Techniques for Building Better Software (Paperback)

The performance tuning section alone is enough of a reason to buy it. I liked the quick reference lists for exceptions, assertions, templates, macros, etc. Also a good discussion on when to use reference counting and when to use templates - easier to understand in the context of a real app. I'm not into digital imaging, so the advanced sections on that stuff weren't interesting to me, but overall, I got some good ideas in this book and some things I can apply directly to my code to make an immediate difference.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolute junk, November 9, 2005

By 

NJMallu (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Applied C++: Practical Techniques for Building Better Software (Paperback)

I wholeheartedly agree with the reviewers that gave this book 1 star. From page 12, when the first class in the book (apImage) itself is incompletely defined (the definition "pixels_" is missing) it is a steep and fast ride downhill. This book is going to be returned -- this would be the first time I am returning a book.