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Enough Rope to Shoot Yourself in the Foot: Rules for C and C++ Programming (Unix/C) Paperback – September, 1995

by Allen I. Holub (Author)

14 customer reviews

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Programmers, engineers, scientists, students, and others who work with C or C++: If you want to write better code without wading through a maze of technical material, this concise yet pithy guide is precisely the tool you need. Enough Rope to Shoot Yourself in the Foot offers well over 100 rules of thumb you can use to create elegant, maintainable code. And since it comes from an acknowledged expert in the field, you can't go wrong. Allen Holub provides an indispensable set of guidelines, tips, and techniques to help you use these extremely powerful languages to the fullest potential. But don't expect another dry programming guide. Holub manages to make a serious subject refreshingly readable by sprinkling the text with humor and insight.

Enough Rope to Shoot Yourself in the Foot: Rules for C and C++ Programming (Unix/C)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Like other language guidebooks before it, Enough Rope to Shoot Yourself in the Foot is set up as a series of numbered guidelines or rules for better programming. It covers both C and C++, and delivers the booty from Holub's ongoing battle with these important languages.

The material in the book is about evenly divided between C and C++. Each section dispenses general design and programming philosophy, followed by more specific programming information (about specific language features). The advice about general programming and design is the best thing in a very good book; the rules are relevant to any programming language, are sensible, and have enduring value: "If you can't say it in English, you can't say it in C/C++." "A problem must be thought through before it can be solved."

Many of the tips in this book fall into the areas of "programming style" and "subtle interactions." Holub suspects that many programmers are out there writing buggy C++ code: Either they're using language features they don't really understand or they don't take the time to do a real object-oriented design. This puts them in danger of writing "unmaintainable gobbledygook." He doesn't believe in using C++ as a better C. If you're going to use C++, use it whole hog and do good object-oriented design. "If it's not object- oriented, use C," he says...Read more from this review. --Doug Nickerson, Dr. Dobb's Journal -- Dr. Dobb's Journal

Series: Unix/C
Paperback: 186 pages
Publisher: Computing Mcgraw-Hill (September 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0070296898
ISBN-13: 978-0070296893
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 7.5 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
Average Customer Review: 14 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,500,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #53 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > APIs & Operating Environments > Unix
- #703 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > C & C++ > C++
- #24024 in Books > Science & Math > Mathematics

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Excellent collectable book on how to avoid C and C++ pitfalls as well as a style-guide for both languages

ByAndrew Papeon January 11, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Allen Holub doesn't disappoint. First, I read his compiler tome, which was excellent given the size and the topic. It's a well-written book with no annoying US colloquialisms or padding.

Next, I read Holub's patterns book, and found it excellent also. It's unusual that Holub's writing style has changed to suit the different material he covers. The compiler logic in the first book was well-known and highly technical, whereas the patterns book was highly abstract, with the relatively new concepts of patterns. I found it much more approachable than the Gang of Four book.

I couldn't resist reading another of Holub's books - this one. Again, Holub has changed his writing style. Reader's may think he's opinionated (something which is not evident in the two aforementioned books) but he admits he has personal preferences that may well differ from others. To avoid sounding opinionated, the author would have written "I think that...", or "In my opinion...", time after time, which would have made the material both weak and bloated. Better to take a stance.

Holub has done a great job with this book. I have read and re-read Scot Meyers' "Effective" books, which I've found excellent, although they vary a lot from Holub's book. But there is no reason why the books of the two authors need to be mutually exclusive. Holub has covered C, which Meyers' has not. I found Holub's book less technical, for the most part, but roughly the same when covering the more advanced C++ in the last part of the book.

C is still around, and many programmers, myself included, have had trouble learning C++. It's great that the author has covered both languages, and I think that you'll get insights into C that will help with C++. Overall, an enjoyable book, recommended to any C or C++ programmer. The material would be applicable to second or third year of a Computer Science Degree.

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The naysayers ought to be shot!

ByAnton L. Andersonon January 26, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I almost passed on this book because of some of the negative reviews.

Okay, it is no Code Complete, but this book is an absolute gem. I have been programming C++ for about 6 years now (VB users be darned, it is my favorite programming language, period) and I was amazed how much I agreed with this author's advice.

Yeah, I learned a lot from Scott Meyers' canonical "Effective" books. But what I like about this book is that it is a no-nonsense, in-your-face, tell-it-like-it-is book that I think is essential for those wet-behind-the-ears C++ programmers (or those whiners who claim that C++ is too hard).

It will probably piss off a lot of Windows programmers as well as he is somewhat anti-Microsoft. However, I am primarily a MFC programmer and

what he says about MFC (earlier editions) and Windows programming in general is absolutely correct.

This book is a must for every novice C/C++ programmer. The experienced C/C++ programmers will probably tell you that they know all about this, so most of them will give it a pass. However, as a experienced C++ programmer, I think that they are making a mistake. They need to get this book on the shelf as well.

At the very least they can loan it to the beginners.

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So far so good no problems

ByDean Katteon June 6, 2017

Format: Paperback

they are the best I love them thank you so much. buy this no question quick and on demand good quality and good product From what I received the goods now use without any problems, everything as I expected, like, size is also very appropriate. Great product, excellent customer service!

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Food for thought. For experienced programmers.

ByA customeron May 22, 1999

Format: Paperback

I have very much enjoyed reading this book. I found Mr. Holub's style engaging and entertaining. A lot of the other reviewers disliked his style, but I liked his content & was not offended, except when he expressed negative opinions about Math grads (I'm one). The table of contents serves as a list of all his rules -- very useful. There are a few typos in the book, so you have to know C++ to catch them. E.g., on p.119 the keyword "inline" is missing in 2 spots. If you do what the book literally showed, you'd have problems. I checked. I removed the inline keyword from a function declaration in the class and the function definition in the header, below the class definition. It compiled, but when I tried linking an application to this library code, it failed to link. So this is not a book for beginners. (I found the McGraw-Hill web page for Errata, but it only had a handful of books and this book was not one of them.) But I enjoyed the book and valued his insights. Other reviewers prefer Scott Meyers. I don't like Dr. Meyers books. Meyers rambles and beats around the bush. "Code Complete" by McConnell is just way too long. Time is money. I started to read Maguire's "Writing Solid Code" and closed the book after the 1st chapter. Not impressive at all. I have "Industrial Strength C++" by Henricson and found it dry - no fun to read, but nice reference. "C++ Distilled" by Pohl is nice reference, but also not fun. Have I told you yet that I enjoyed reading Holub's book?