Customer Reviews

The Elements of C++ Style (Sigs Reference Library)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are new to C# or are wanting to start writing cleaner, more efficient, more professional, and just plain smarter code, this is a must-read. These guys definitely know their stuff and give some excellent tips. It's light and quick-read, easy to pick up and read a bit during down times, short enough to power through in one sitting, and serves as a great reference. For the money, this is one of the best books I've bought in a long time.

This book is too small to be used as a physical weapon in the "style wars." Nevertheless, it is large in terms of content. Nearly all of the areas of style differences and disputes are covered. The authors do a good job in presenting their solutions to style difference problems without resorting to evangelical techniques. They express their opinions, justify them and then move on to the next style issue. Small segments of code, demonstrating both the right and wrong ways, are used to illustrate the point.
The issues are placed into several groups:

* General principles.
* Formatting conventions.
* Naming conventions.
* Programming principles.
* Programming conventions.
* Packaging conventions.

The 175 style issues are summarized into a set of short rules at the end of the book, which makes it easier to find specific elements.
This book is not a bible, setting down the commandments for the proper style to be used in creating C++ code. It is a set of suggestions, and if you read it with that in mind, you will find this book of value.

I've been working with C# since before it was in pre-release, and I still find myself cracking this book open a couple of times a week to look over the formatting recommendations it makes. The consistency I get by using this tool (book) makes my code easier to review by others, and easier to follow when I have to go back and fix bugs. I keep a copy of it on my desk at work and at home, and a third copy in my laptop bag. The index is great and I never have a problem finding what I need almost instantly. In fact, I often read the sections around the one I need as a quick review. I really love it.

Some of this was review, some reminders, some teaching. Overall it is probably one of the best books I have ever invested in to improve my programming quality.

Clearly documented and concise. Follows industry best practices nicely. A good choice if you're looking for a standard style for your team.

It's so close to our internal style that I can use it as the standard with only a page or two of supplemental documentation.

This is a very good book, and has made a huge difference for our software development team. We don't agree with all the style rules, but the exceptions are few.

Packed into a deceptively-diminutive size paperback package is an essential programmer's guide which should be a reference bible for all C++ programmers: a survey of the basic elements of formatting, naming, documentation and programming which provides a foundation of rules for writing in C++. Organized by programming conventions and principles, Elements Of C++ Style is invaluable for the programmer who would produce consistent, accurate documentation.

I'm trying to become more of a productive programmer and code readability is an element to it.
So I searched through collection of programming book at my university library and found this one.
"The elements of C# Style" is short, concise and provides examples when needed. There is a summarized list of tips in the back of the book to act as a cheat-sheet.
Note that most of the tips can be used is most Object Oriented Programming languages, like Java.
But be aware that this book doesn't teach you C#, but rather it focuses on how C# code can be written in order to maximize its effectiveness.
In conclusion, I think this an excellent book for anyone trying to improve their code quality.

If anyone ever told you that your code was ugly, then this book is for you. If you want the correct way to implement the IDisposable interface, or construct a singleton object in a multi-threaded environment, then this book is for you.

Many of the details outlined in this book, anyone who has been writing software, even for 6 months, will have a grasp on. There are a few thing that are interesting, but they are things that you would google for.