Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery
Amazon Prime includes:
Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
- Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV episodes with Prime Video
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
- Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
Buy new:
$26.43$26.43
FREE delivery:
Thursday, June 22
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Book-center
Buy used: $15.91
Other Sellers on Amazon
98% positive over last 12 months
50% positive over last 12 months
94% positive over last 12 months
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
The C++ Programming Language: Special Edition (3rd Edition) Special Edition
| Price | New from | Used from |
Purchase options and add-ons
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 (also available at www.research.att.com/~bs/) 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
- ISBN-100201700735
- ISBN-13978-0201700732
- EditionSpecial Edition
- PublisherAddison-Wesley Professional
- Publication dateFebruary 15, 2000
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions8 x 1.75 x 10 inches
- Print length1030 pages
Frequently bought together

What do customers buy after viewing this item?
- Lowest Pricein this set of products
C++ Programming Language: a QuickStudy Laminated Reference (Quickstudy Reference Guide)Scott SmithWall Chart
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
-- Kristen Nygaard
I find using C++ more enjoyable than ever. C++'s support for design and programming has improved dramatically over the years, and lots of new helpful techniques have been developed for its use. However, C++ is not just fun. Ordinary practical programmers have achieved significant improvements in productivity, maintainability, flexibility, and quality in projects of just about any kind and scale. By now, C++ has fulfilled most of the hopes I originally had for it, and also succeeded at tasks I hadn't even dreamt of.
This book introduces standard C++* and the key programming and design techniques supported by C++. Standard C++ is a far more powerful and polished language than the version of C++ introduced by the first edition of this book. New language features such as name spaces, exceptions, templates, and run-time type identification allow many techniques to be applied more directly than was possible before, and the standard library allows the programmer to start from a much higher level than the bare language.
About a third of the information in the second edition of this book came from the first. This third edition is the result of a rewrite of even larger magnitude. It offers something to even the most experienced C++ programmer; at the same time, this book is easier for the novice to approach that its predecessors were. The explosion of C++ use and the massive amount of experience accumulated as a result makes this possible.
The definition of an extensive standard library makes a difference to the way C++ concepts can be presented. As before, this book presents C++ independently of any particular implementation, and as before, the tutorial chapters present language constructs and concepts in a "bottom up" order so that a construct is used only after it has been defined. However, it is much easier to use a well-designed library than it is to understand the details of its implementation. Therefore the standard library can be used to provide realistic and interesting examples well before a reader can be assumed to understand its inner workings. the standard library itself is also a fertile source of programming examples and design techniques.
This book presents every major C++ language feature and the standard library. It is organized around language and library facilities. However, features are presented in the context of their use. That is, the focus is on the language as the tool for design and programming rather than on the language in itself. This book demonstrates key techniques that make C++ effective and teaches the fundamental concepts necessary for mastery. Except where illustrating technicalities, examples are taken from the domain of systems software. A companion, The Annotated C++ Language Standard, presents the complete language definition together with annotations to make it more comprehensible.
The primary aim of this book is to help the reader understand how the facilities offered by C++ support key programming techniques. The aim is to take the reader far beyond the point where he or she gets code running primarily by copying examples and emulation programming styles from other languages. Only a good understanding of the ideas behind the language facilities leads to mastery. Supplemented by implementation documentation, the information provided is sufficient for completing significant real-world projects. The hope is that this book will help the reader gain new insights and become a better programmer and designer.
Acknowledgments
In addition to the people mentioned in the acknowledgment section of the first and second editions, I would like to thank Matt Austern, Hans Boehm, Don Caldwell, Lawrence Crowl, Alan Feuer, Andrew Forrest, Tim Griffin, Peter Juhl, Brian Kernighan, Andrew Koenig, Mike Mowbray, Rob Murray, Lee Nackman, Joseph Newcomer, Alex Stepanov, David Vandevoorde, Peter Weinberger, and Chris Van Wyk for commenting on draft chapters of this third edition.
I would also like to thank the volunteers on the C++ standards committees who did an immense amount of constructive work to make C++ what it is today. It is slightly unfair to single out individuals, but it would be even more unfair not to mention anyone, so I'd like to especially mention Mike Ball, Dag Brueck, Sean Corfield, Ted Goldstein, Kim Knutilla, Andrew Koenig, Josee Lajoie, Dmitry Lenkov, Nathan Myers, Martin O'Riordan, Tom Plum, Jonathan Shopiro, John Spicer, Jerry Schwarz, Alex Stepanov, and Mike Vilot, as people who each directly cooperated with me over some part of C++ and its standard library.
After the initial printing of this book, many dozens of people have mailed me corrections and suggestions for improvements. I have been able to accommodate many of their suggestions within the framework of the book so that later printings benefitted significantly. Translators of this book into many languages have also provided many clarifications. In response to requests from readers, I have added appendices D and E. Let me take this opportunity to thank a few of those who helped: Dave Abrahams, Matt Austern, Jan Bielawski, Janina Mincer Daszkiewicz, Andrew Koenig, Dietmar Kuehl, Nicolai Josuttis, Nathan Myers, Paul E. Sevinc, Andy Tenne-Sens, Shoichi Uchida, Ping-Fai (Mike) Yang, and Dennis Yelle.
Bjarne Stroustrup
Murray Hill, New Jersey
0201700735P04062001
From the Back Cover
- 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.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
-- Kristen Nygaard
I find using C++ more enjoyable than ever. C++'s support for design and programming has improved dramatically over the years, and lots of new helpful techniques have been developed for its use. However, C++ is not just fun. Ordinary practical programmers have achieved significant improvements in productivity, maintainability, flexibility, and quality in projects of just about any kind and scale. By now, C++ has fulfilled most of the hopes I originally had for it, and also succeeded at tasks I hadn't even dreamt of.
This book introduces standard C++* and the key programming and design techniques supported by C++. Standard C++ is a far more powerful and polished language than the version of C++ introduced by the first edition of this book. New language features such as name spaces, exceptions, templates, and run-time type identification allow many techniques to be applied more directly than was possible before, and the standard library allows the programmer to start from a much higher level than the bare language.
About a third of the information in the second edition of this book came from the first. This third edition is the result of a rewrite of even larger magnitude. It offers something to even the most experienced C++ programmer; at the same time, this book is easier for the novice to approach that its predecessors were. The explosion of C++ use and the massive amount of experience accumulated as a result makes this possible.
The definition of an extensive standard library makes a difference to the way C++ concepts can be presented. As before, this book presents C++ independently of any particular implementation, and as before, the tutorial chapters present language constructs and concepts in a "bottom up" order so that a construct is used only after it has been defined. However, it is much easier to use a well-designed library than it is to understand the details of its implementation. Therefore the standard library can be used to provide realistic and interesting examples well before a reader can be assumed to understand its inner workings. the standard library itself is also a fertile source of programming examples and design techniques.
This book presents every major C++ language feature and the standard library. It is organized around language and library facilities. However, features are presented in the context of their use. That is, the focus is on the language as the tool for design and programming rather than on the language in itself. This book demonstrates key techniques that make C++ effective and teaches the fundamental concepts necessary for mastery. Except where illustrating technicalities, examples are taken from the domain of systems software. A companion, The Annotated C++ Language Standard, presents the complete language definition together with annotations to make it more comprehensible.
The primary aim of this book is to help the reader understand how the facilities offered by C++ support key programming techniques. The aim is to take the reader far beyond the point where he or she gets code running primarily by copying examples and emulation programming styles from other languages. Only a good understanding of the ideas behind the language facilities leads to mastery. Supplemented by implementation documentation, the information provided is sufficient for completing significant real-world projects. The hope is that this book will help the reader gain new insights and become a better programmer and designer.
Acknowledgments
In addition to the people mentioned in the acknowledgment section of the first and second editions, I would like to thank Matt Austern, Hans Boehm, Don Caldwell, Lawrence Crowl, Alan Feuer, Andrew Forrest, Tim Griffin, Peter Juhl, Brian Kernighan, Andrew Koenig, Mike Mowbray, Rob Murray, Lee Nackman, Joseph Newcomer, Alex Stepanov, David Vandevoorde, Peter Weinberger, and Chris Van Wyk for commenting on draft chapters of this third edition.
I would also like to thank the volunteers on the C++ standards committees who did an immense amount of constructive work to make C++ what it is today. It is slightly unfair to single out individuals, but it would be even more unfair not to mention anyone, so I'd like to especially mention Mike Ball, Dag Brueck, Sean Corfield, Ted Goldstein, Kim Knutilla, Andrew Koenig, Josee Lajoie, Dmitry Lenkov, Nathan Myers, Martin O'Riordan, Tom Plum, Jonathan Shopiro, John Spicer, Jerry Schwarz, Alex Stepanov, and Mike Vilot, as people who each directly cooperated with me over some part of C++ and its standard library.
After the initial printing of this book, many dozens of people have mailed me corrections and suggestions for improvements. I have been able to accommodate many of their suggestions within the framework of the book so that later printings benefitted significantly. Translators of this book into many languages have also provided many clarifications. In response to requests from readers, I have added appendices D and E. Let me take this opportunity to thank a few of those who helped: Dave Abrahams, Matt Austern, Jan Bielawski, Janina Mincer Daszkiewicz, Andrew Koenig, Dietmar Kuehl, Nicolai Josuttis, Nathan Myers, Paul E. Sevinc, Andy Tenne-Sens, Shoichi Uchida, Ping-Fai (Mike) Yang, and Dennis Yelle.
Bjarne StroustrupMurray Hill, New Jersey
0201700735P04062001
Product details
- Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional; Special Edition (February 15, 2000)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 1030 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0201700735
- ISBN-13 : 978-0201700732
- Item Weight : 3.84 pounds
- Dimensions : 8 x 1.75 x 10 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,233,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #341 in C++ Programming Language
- #4,288 in Computer Software (Books)
- #12,686 in Mathematics (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Bjarne Stroustrup is the designer and original implementer of C++.
He is a founding member of the ISO C++ standards committee and a major contributor to modern C++.
He worked at Bell Labs and is now a professor at Columbia University and a fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge.
He is a member of the USA National Academy of Engineering, an ACM, IEEE, and CHM Fellow.
He is a recipient of the Draper Prize.
His publication list is as long as your arm. For details, see his home pages (www.stroustrup.com)
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
The tour (chap 2 and 3) are meant to give you an overview of classes and what C++ can do. The reader is not expected to apply it until getting a more nuts and bolts grasp of the language (chap 4 to approximately 9). By the time you reach chap 7 or 8, even though the subjects of chap2 and 3 are not visited again, classes and some of the standard templates such as vector, string, cin, become clear. From chap 4 on, each subject is presented in enough detail to apply it. The discussion about Exceptions (chap 8) is a good example of how subjects are explained slowly. Stroustrup builds up the subject with the simplest case first, and give you the code right there in the text so that it is easy to understand the basics. He adds one feature at a time and gives example code, so the following features are also easy to follow. The whole idea about how to structure code beginning with 6.1 the desk top calculator and reworking it in 7 and through namespaces in 8 is another example of how concepts are built up slowly through repetition with small modification.
The exercises are excellent and instructive. He goes through all the main points in them, and once you are through with that you will be able to apply each chapter's material. Understanding does require studying the few lines he gives at each time though. Those examples he picks are what you need to learn. To solve the problems, short and terse text is good, for you have less material to search through. Everything to complete them is in the book in order. The only reading ahead I needed was to look up a function which only required reading a page or two. As you practice, you will naturally read through much of the Standard Template Library discussions (for vectors, lists, streams, iterators, strings etc). By the time you figure out the exercises, you will have figured out the basic concepts. I found that the book contains nearly all the example code needed. Every time I asked how to do something I found Stroustrup gives you the example right there in the first few chapters. Rarely did I ask a question that wasn't answered in the book. That demonstrates an excellent choice of topics for learning.
In summary my approach was to take a few hours with each chapter of approximately 20 pages and read it thoroughly until I felt I understood it. I referred to earlier sections as the author indicated when necessary for a reminder. I often found new meaning and more clarity in those sections. Working through most of the problems allowed me to apply or implement the example code in a way that no amount of reading could do.
The book is written with mathematical precision. Much of the author's scientific contribution went to developing the language, and obviously writing compilers for it. Actually, the author has made the rules of the language relatively simple and general, especially given the language's power. Learning the language through his book, one can get the thought process that went into developing this profoundly influential language, in a way that would be difficult to get any other way. After hundreds of thousands of programmers learned C++ through this book, it is extremely difficult to find a typo or mistake.
Stroustrup deliberately treats the simplest and most basic structures first so that a programmer can get started without having to understand the abstract ideas of object oriented programming. The book is not just a reference. For learning the foundations of the language, it is an excellent choice. My advice is to read it sequentially, review the "Tour" (chap 2&3), work through the exercises, and compare with David Vandevoorde's "C++ solutions".
That said, this is a truly amazing book. You will never, ever, ever find a more in depth description of the language, it's features and caveats, and how to make the language do what you want it to do and make programming simple in large systems. When you reach a certain point it isn't as simple as "okay let's have a class with some get and set methods here". You must have a thorough understanding of some extremely advanced features, and this book will definitely get you to that point if you put in the time. The way the explanations are worded and the examples that are given are difficult to understand because there's no simple way to explain such advanced concepts. And if you are one of the people that think there _is_ an easy way to explain such concepts in the same amount of detail, I invite you to go find an easy explanation of mathematical Field Theory or Quantum Physics.
If you are smart, part of the target audience, and mature enough to handle it, I doubt you will be able to find a better book.
And for those who are still convinced that simpler is better, I wonder if you can explain to me *why* overriding a function in a derived class makes all of its overloads in the base class inaccessible.
Top reviews from other countries
My 'Amazon Warehouse' purchase of this book was bumped on the spine (hence returned to Amazon by the first buyer), but represents a better than average condition used purchase for me.
If you are a beginner you may find it a little hard, but at least you are going to learn, and you won't remain a beginner forever.
It covers the standard library too. I haven't seen other books about the STL so I refrain from commenting this section.










