Effective C++ Third Edition 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs

Effective C++ Third Edition
55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs

Introduction

Chapter 1. Accustoming Yourself to C++
Item 1: View C++ as a federation of languages
Item 2: Prefer consts, enums, and inlines to #defines
Item 3: Use const whenever possible
Item 4: Make sure that objects are initialized before they're used

Chapter 2. Constructors, Destructors, and Assignment Operators
Item 5: Know what functions C++ silently writes and calls
Item 6: Explicitly disallow the use of compiler-generated functions you do not want
Item 7: Declare destructors virtual in polymorphic base classes
Item 8: Prevent exceptions from leaving destructors
Item 9: Never call virtual functions during construction or destruction
Item 10: Have assignment operators return a reference to *this
Item 11: Handle assignment to self in operator=
Item 12: Copy all parts of an object

Chapter 3. Resource Management
Item 13: Use objects to manage resources.
Item 14: Think carefully about copying behavior in resource-managing classes.
Item 15: Provide access to raw resources in resource-managing classes.
Item 16: Use the same form in corresponding uses of new and delete.
Item 17: Store newed objects in smart pointers in standalone statements.

Chapter 4. Designs and Declarations
Item 18: Make interfaces easy to use correctly and hard to use incorrectly
Item 19: Treat class design as type design
Item 20: Prefer pass-by-reference-to-const to pass-by-value
Item 21: Don't try to return a reference when you must return an object
Item 22: Declare data members private
Item 23: Prefer non-member non-friend functions to member functions
Item 24: Declare non-member functions when type conversions should apply to all parameters
Item 25: Consider support for a non-throwing swap

Chapter 5. Implementations
Item 26: Postpone variable definitions as long as possible.
Item 27: Minimize casting.
Item 28: Avoid returning "handles" to object internals.
Item29: Strive for exception-safe code.
Item 30: Understand the ins and outs of inlining.
Item31: Minimize compilation dependencies between files.

Chapter 6. Inheritance and Object-Oriented Design
Item 32: Make sure public inheritance models "is-a."
Item 33: Avoid hiding inherited names
Item 34: Differentiate between inheritance of interface and inheritance of implementation
Item 35: Consider alternatives to virtual functions
Item 36: Never redefine an inherited non-virtual function
Item 37: Never redefine a function's inherited default parameter value
Item 38: Model "has-a" or "is-implemented-in-terms-of" through composition
Item 39: Use private inheritance judiciously
Item 40: Use multiple inheritance judiciously

Chapter 7. Templates and Generic Programming
Item 41: Understand implicit interfaces and compile-time polymorphism
Item 42: Understand the two meanings of typename
Item 43: Know how to access names in templatized base classes
Item 44: Factor parameter-independent code out of templates
Item 45: Use member function templates to accept "all compatible types."
Item 46: Define non-member functions inside templates when type conversions are desired
Item 47: Use traits classes for information about types
Item 48: Be aware of template metaprogramming

Chapter 8. Customizing new and delete
Item 49: Understand the behavior of the new-handler
Item 50: Understand when it makes sense to replace new and delete
Item 51: Adhere to convention when writing new and delete
Item 52: Write placement delete if you write placement new

Chapter 9. Miscellany
Item 53: Pay attention to compiler warnings.
Item 54: Familiarize yourself with the standard library, including TR1
Item.55: Familiarize yourself with Boost.
Appendix A. Beyond Effective C++
Appendix B.
Item Mappings Between Second and Third Editions

About This Book

This is not a comprehensive reference for C++. Rather, it's a collection of 55 specific suggestions (I call them Items) for how you can improve your programs and designs. Each Item stands more or less on its own, but most also contain references to other Items. One way to read the book, then, is to start with an Item of interest, then follow its references to see where they lead you.

The book isn't an introduction to C++, either. In Chapter 2, for example, I'm eager to tell you all about the proper implementations of constructors, destructors, and assignment operators, but I assume you already know or can go elsewhere to find out what these functions do and how they are declared. A number of C++ books contain information such as that.

The purpose of this book is to highlight those aspects of C++ programming that are often overlooked. Other books describe the different parts of the language. This book tells you how to combine those parts so you end up with effective programs. Other books tell you how to get your programs to compile. This book tells you how to avoid problems that compilers won't tell you about.

At the same time, this book limits itself to standard C++. Only features in the official language standard have been used here. Portability is a key concern in this book, so if you're looking for platform-dependent hacks and kludges, this is not the place to find them.

Another thing you won't find in this book is the C++ Gospel, the One True Path to perfect C++ software. Each of the Items in this book provides guidance on how to develop better designs, how to avoid common problems, or how to achieve greater efficiency, but none of the Items is universally applicable. Software design and implementation is a complex task, one colored by the constraints of the hardware, the operating system, and the application, so the best I can do is provide guidelines for creating better programs.

If you follow all the guidelines all the time, you are unlikely to fall into the most common traps surrounding C++, but guidelines, by their nature, have exceptions. That's why each Item has an explanation. The explanations are the most important part of the book. Only by understanding the rationale behind an Item can you determine whether it applies to the software you are developing and to the unique constraints under which you toil.

The best use of this book is to gain insight into how C++ behaves, why it behaves that way, and how to use its behavior to your advantage. Blind application of the Items in this book is clearly inappropriate, but at the same time, you probably shouldn't violate any of the guidelines without a good reason.