C++ Programming Style 1st Edition

by Tom Cargill (Author)

8 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0201563658

ISBN-10: 0201563657

Why is ISBN important?

Paperback

$15.37 - $30.43

Other Sellers

from

Other Sellers

See all 1 versions

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by -OnTimeBooks-

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Tuesday, May 10 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon

Or fastest delivery Friday, May 6. Order within 1 hr 58 mins

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Ships from and sold by triple h.

List Price: $44.99 Details

Save: $14.56 (32%)

FREE delivery May 11 - 18. Details

Or fastest delivery Monday, May 9. Order within 23 hrs 43 mins. Details

Today's languages have new capabilities, creating new questions on how the components should fit together. Using a learn-by-example approach, Cargill presents code from published sources--each example representing a common error made by C++ programmers--and shows readers how to critically examine and rewrite it.

From the Inside Flap

Almost two decades after the publication of Kernighan and Plauger's classic, The Elements of Programming Style, its compact set of rules remains the best general guidance on good programming. Today, however, our programs are larger and our programming languages have changed. We now care as much about how the components of a program fit together as we do about the algorithms and data structures used in each component. DeRemer and Kron coined the terms programming-in-the-large and programming-in-the-small to make a distinction between the large-scale and small-scale aspects of programs. By programming-in-the-small, they meant dealing with components of a program that are "one to a few pages long" - the size of a typical C++ class. By programming-in-the-large, they meant the structuring of in-the-small components into a program - in C++ terms, dealing with relationships between classes. Kernighan and Plauger concentrated their work on the issues of programming-in-the-small. Their advice about programming-in-the-large is sound, but minimal.

Modularize. Use subroutines.

This book addresses programming style, with more emphasis on programming-in-the-large, and is restricted to the domain of C++ programs. It is written for the programmer who has learned the mechanics of C++, but is experiencing difficulty in applying the language features - particularly the object-oriented features - to programming problems. Though the discussion is limited to C++, many of the observations about programming are true of other languages. I leave the treatment of language-independent style in-the-large to more ambitious authors.

I have adopted Kernighan and Plauger's method of distilling rules of programming style from the critical reading and rewriting of programs. All the programs used here are taken from textbooks, magazine articles and tutorials on C++ programming. None was created artificially for this work. Some programs are presented exactly as originally published, while others have been altered cosmetically. The alterations range from the correction of in-the-small bugs, which would only distract, to structure-preserving transformations of programs for which copyright was not obtained.

The spirit in which to approach the material is that of an "egoless" code review. We all learn by reading and reviewing each other's programs. The material is not a criticism of individual programmers - it seeks only to differentiate between good and bad programs. No doubt the programs that are presented here as "better" versions have their own shortcomings. The reader is encouraged to examine these programs critically, looking for further improvements in programming style.

0201563657P04062001

From the Back Cover

C++ supports programming-in-the-large, allowing relationships between different parts of a program to be expressed. The scope of C++ programming style therefore goes beyond traditional in-the-small issues which relate to the details of line-by-line coding. This book examines the use of the in-the-large language features of C++, which sometimes confuse even experienced programmers. The author demonstrates that unwarranted use of the more powerful language features may lead to cluttered programs which are harder to comprehend and sometimes less efficient than more straightforward alternatives. Cargill rewrites several programs, using techniques that range from improving consistency to removing redundant inheritance. The presentation simulates a code review, in which readers may independently evaluate and criticize alternative approaches to programming problems, and then compare their analyses with those of the author.

Design and coding style rules are distilled from the examples. Understanding and following these rules will help professional programmers design and write better C++ programs.

A chapter is devoted to each of the following topics:

abstractions
operator overloading
consistency
wrappers
unnecessary inheritance
efficiency
virtual functions Building on the programming rules introduced in the first seven chapters, Cargill presents a case study in which a single program undergoes repeated transformations that improve its overall quality while reducing its size. The book concludes with a chapter on multiple inheritance.

0201563657B04062001

About the Author

Tom Cargill is a well-regarded expert in C++. While at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, he was among the first programmers to use C++. He is a columnist for The C++ Journal and The C++ Report, and is also the author of two of Technology Exchange Company's C++ courses. The material for this book was originally developed for tutorials that Cargill has presented at numerous technical conference.

0201563657AB04062001

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Almost two decades after the publication of Kernighan and Plauger's classic, The Elements of Programming Style , its compact set of rules remains the best general guidance on good programming. Today, however, our programs are larger and our programming languages have changed. We now care as much about how the components of a program fit together as we do about the algorithms and data structures used in each component. DeRemer and Kron coined the terms programming-in-the-large and programming-in-the-small to make a distinction between the large-scale and small-scale aspects of programs. By programming-in-the-small, they meant dealing with components of a program that are "one to a few pages long" - the size of a typical C++ class. By programming-in-the-large, they meant the structuring of in-the-small components into a program - in C++ terms, dealing with relationships between classes. Kernighan and Plauger concentrated their work on the issues of programming-in-the-small. Their advice about programming-in-the-large is sound, but minimal.

Modularize. Use subroutines.
This book addresses programming style, with more emphasis on programming-in-the-large, and is restricted to the domain of C++ programs. It is written for the programmer who has learned the mechanics of C++, but is experiencing difficulty in applying the language features - particularly the object-oriented features - to programming problems. Though the discussion is limited to C++, many of the observations about programming are true of other languages. I leave the treatment of language-independent style in-the-large to more ambitious authors.
I have adopted Kernighan and Plauger's method of distilling rules of programming style from the critical reading and rewriting of programs. All the programs used here are taken from textbooks, magazine articles and tutorials on C++ programming. None was created artificially for this work. Some programs are presented exactly as originally published, while others have been altered cosmetically. The alterations range from the correction of in-the-small bugs, which would only distract, to structure-preserving transformations of programs for which copyright was not obtained.
The spirit in which to approach the material is that of an "egoless" code review. We all learn by reading and reviewing each other's programs. The material is not a criticism of individual programmers - it seeks only to differentiate between good and bad programs. No doubt the programs that are presented here as "better" versions have their own shortcomings. The reader is encouraged to examine these programs critically, looking for further improvements in programming style.

0201563657P04062001

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Addison-Wesley Professional; 1st edition (August 1, 1992)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 248 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0201563657
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0201563658
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,159,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,053 in C++ Programming Language
- #7,808 in Computer Programming Languages
- #14,739 in Computer Software (Books)

Customer Reviews:
8 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Tom Cargill

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

5 star		39%
4 star		38%
3 star		11%
2 star		11%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Rob Wehrli

Cargill's classic book on quality C++

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2002

Verified Purchase

It is unfair to judge this book from the perspective of the "average" C++ programmer. Tom goes at least three steps further to treat programmers/readers as intelligent beings of the same species who already have the fundamental programming language "mechanics" skills. The reviewer who spewed forth about "coding style" really doesn't "get it." The whole issue of "where you put your braces" and naming conventions isn't what Tom or Tom's book is about. He already assumes that if you're programming C++ you have some idea of when you're going to press enter on the keyboard. (To make whitespace, in case you were wondering...)
The inferior thinking that confounds the world of programming is that C++ is an easy language to master. Very few programmers have much hope of aspiring to learn even 80% of the language and use it effectively. Thinking otherwise is like saying that everyone who wants to run a foot race can be Jessie Owens. Tom starts by treating readers as programming peers. That alone is an incredible benefit anytime programming is being done. Prima donas and those guys who always seem too busy to provide their "public interface" are the ones to avoid in learning anything of use regarding C++.
I pick up Tom's book every couple of months and browse it. His noted "brevity" is like a good RPG that gives subtle hints that incite thinking for yourself without following what many other books do by drawing a roadmap to one solution that worked for this one situation but may never again apply to anything useful. In my opinion, Tom's "lessons" are appropriately concise.
If you haven't read Tom's book, buy it, read it...if you're serious about your C++ skills. There is a *good* reason why Scott Meyers recommends Tom's book. It is something of a unique and interesting perspective on C++, which is really all that any of us can hope to give back to the language. The book is an interesting, insightful perspective that has pragmatic commentary that will help you be a better C++ programmer. At the last (ever?) C++ World conference in December of 1999, a discussion of which books to read evolved out of some other spew. Cargill's book came up as necessary reading, as it always seems to, for the simple fact that it comes from a respected industry professional with an uncany ability to boil out the meat of the topic without overcooking the stew. C++ is, at least, also an art form. Tom's ability with the art of C++ is inspiring. Scott Meyers is another artist. So is Angelika Langer and Herb Sutter, and Andy Koenig, Stan Lippman, Doug Lea and Erich Gamma and Jim Copelien and numerous others. But, for each of them, there are 10,000 very so-so programmers out there spewing forth complete nonsense. Help de-nonsense your world with Tom's book. One person indicated that it is somewhat stale. It is really like fine wine. It just gets better with age.

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

Anping Chen

a under appreciate good book

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2013

Verified Purchase

It is great way to learn better way to programming. it is not fancy but very useful book. I am luck to get it by only $4

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Thing with a hook

dated, but still successful on its own terms

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2007

C++ Programming Style still gets regularly mentioned as an important guide to intermediate C++. However, from the perspective of 2007, it's looking long in the tooth.

The book was published in 1992, so the modern reader will notice the old fashioned C++ - no templates (therefore no STL), no exceptions, no strings, old style .h headers. The implementation of the assignment operator relies on a check for self assignment (rather than merely using it as an optimisation), and it uses arrays polymorphically. Readers of Exceptional C++ and Effective C++ will know that these are not recommended practices in modern C++. However, I assume that you aren't going to read this without a good grounding in basic and intermediate C++ and can spot the parts which require tweaking.

Fortunately, the book is structured as a series of code reviews, so it stands out from the glut of mini-essay type books, and the general principles of class design that the book propounds remain useful. And even fairly advanced programmers probably won't spot all the problems that Cargill highlights, so you'll definitely learn something.

I'm giving it four stars because is still covers a core of C++ that is relevant and you can pick it up cheaply. But don't expect it to be fully up to date.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Olivier Langlois

Refreshing!

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2006

I have read tons of C++ programming books. A lot of them lack of originality. This is where Tom Cargill book shines. The author of this book first presents a small C++ program listing for each chapter and then ask the readers to take few minutes to try to identify the errors or the aspects that could be improved. It is really instructive to find out all the things you have not identified yourself and this is what makes this format so interesting. Some people says that this book is for novice programmers but I disagree. To my opinion, almost all experienced programmers will miss at least half of the problems present in the sample programs.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Daniel Mall

Introduction to C++ class design

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2001

This book does not cover programming style in the traditional usage of the term. There is no discussion of general programming practice, naming conventions, documentation, commenting, formatting, and layout. The best target audience for this book is newcomers to C++ having difficulty with class design. Chapters on abstraction, consistency, inheritance, virtual functions, operator overloading, wrappers, and multiple inheritance provide solid guidance. The author repeats principals in multiple chapters such as "Look for simple abstractions", "Reduce coupling - minimize interactions between classes", and "Usually, the destructor in a public base class should be virtual". Substantial amounts of code listings appear in the book (approximately 20% of the pages).

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

shining_star_77

Informative but...

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2002

I bought this book after reading through Effective C++ and More Effective C++ by Scott Meyers following the suggested reading by the author. I think that I should have read this book before purchasing the Effective C++ books. Basically it touches some fundamental issues, but due to the fact that it is slightly old, some topics such as templates are not covered very well. Meyers also gives a thorough overview of smart pointers, member function templates etc. My recommendation is that if you really want to start improving your C++ skills, forget about this book, read Scott Meyers' books and pick up Design Patterns by Erich Gamma and others.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

C++ Programming Style 1st Edition