The C++ Programming Language: Special Edition (3rd Edition)

Past readers will find that the new edition has changed a great deal and grown considerably to encompass new language features, particularly run-time type identification, namespaces, and the standard library. At the same time, readers will recognize the lucid style and sensible advice that made previous editions so readable and enjoyable. Probably the biggest change is a substantial new section, well over 200 pages in length, covering the contents and design of the C++ standard library, the most important new feature of the C++ specification. The author has also added a substantial number of new exercises while keeping many from previous editions that have retained their value.

While The C++ Programming Language is not a C++ tutorial, strictly speaking, anyone learning the language, especially those coming from C, will greatly benefit from the clear presentation of all its elements. It is impossible to overstate the importance of this book for anyone who is serious about using C++.

Book Description
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

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.

One word in warning to potential buyers: You better be sharp with your STL skills before reading this book. Stroustrup writes his implementations around the STL which is not covered from a tutorial style in this book before he introduces it, which tells you that he meant for this book strictly as a reference not as a readers book. This critism is constructive, not disruptive, but I have been programming in standard ANSI/ISO C++ for 9 years, this book is best understood if you read the following first, if not, this book for even an itermediate C++ program cannot be digested to the fullest and you will reading this book fooling yourself of how much knowledge you have attained, when in reality, all that you have accomplished is reading this book so that you can say that you read Stroustrup, which is foolish, so read these first:

1) C++ Primer 3rd Edition: Stanley Lippman Addison Wesley Books Strengths: If you are starting out with C++ with no C++ experience, this book covers every facet beginner to advanced topics, such as fundamental classes, class design covering nested class and intense class scoping rules, which Stroustrups book does not cover, there is no reference to nested classes and access privileges with nested classes with Stroustrup's book. The chapters on function templates and another chapter on class templates are the most complete and thorough beyound what you need to know for richness is explained brilliantly and better than scant coverage in Stroustrup's. The C++ Primer is long though, so if you want to learn C++ the right way, skills like this take time and effort, there is no free lunches here, but this is regarded as the best C++ book regardless of level: starter, intermediate, or very advanced master. It also serves a robust reference. This books covers the STL containers well in its own chapter and also two chapter on all the STL algoritms, plus an extended alphabetically ordered repitition in type out of the book and compile form. This book is not for the faint hearted or lazy, if you are ambitious, this book will make you a C++ king. Also get its companion C++ Answer book with all answers to the books exercise questions from author Clovis L. Tondo, also an Addison Wesley title.

2) C++ Algorithms 3rd Edition by Robert Sedgewick also Addison Wesley books. Why? You seriouly have to know your date structure skills, linked lists, stacks, trees, queues and its accompanying algoritms, such as: searching and sorting, merging and merge sorting. Stroustrups books assumes you know how these all come together, if you do not believe this, then look at his stark and algorithmically complex data structure examples, once this is read everything will be a piece of cake, believe this, do not fool yourself.

3) The C++ Standard Library Tutorial and Reference from Nicolai Josuttis, from Addison Wesley also, this book is the defacto bible on mastering the STL, which covers brilliant chapters on containers( vectors, lists, maps, sets, deques, and much more ). It also covers a huge chapter on standard IO streams, at least over 150 pages on this alone, as well a masterful chapter on STL strings. This should be read after Sedgewick's book. This book like all Addison Wesley books, is of the highest qualitiy and caliber of writing making it fun to read and plenty of type out of the book samples to bang in the concept. This books brilliantly also tutors you in function objects, iterators and all its variants, and STL algorithms.

Last Word: Stroustrups book is definite worth in purchase and you cannot consider yourself a C++ software engineer, or C++ Software/Systems architect without having this book in your library, but patience and read books 1,2, and three first in that order. And wheh you do the above, and are ready to read Stroustup's book, one reminder, you must know your templates, know your templates, know your templates, also get the accompanying answer book, C++ Solutions, by Vandervoode also an Addison Wesley title.

Good Fortune.


Best there ever will be   March 24, 2000
ZT (Houston, TX USA)
57 out of 68 found this review helpful

I get extremely aggravated by people who read a book like thisand say how terrible it is, how the examples are hard to understand,and how hard the code is to understand, etc etc... Blah blah blah. It's pretty obvious to an experienced programmer that these people clearly are not the target audience of the book. The target audience of this book is programmers who have a couple years of experience programming (at least in C, preferably in C++). Additionally, you must be able to understand some rather complex terminology, and some concepts that go well beyond the basics of just writing simple programs. You must also have a desire to learn the C++ language inside and out, leaving nothing whatsoever unclear about the language. If all you want is the basic syntax of the language and lots of handholding then I cannot imagine why you're even looking at a book by the creator of the language in the first place.

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.


One of the Best & Most Completed C++ Books Ever!   April 14, 2000
Rawitat Pulam (University of Tsukuba, Japan)
61 out of 66 found this review helpful

From my years of being a C++ programmer, this is definitely the one of the best reference books I've ever used. This book cover all the aspects of C++, one of the most complicated programming language, with a nice detail of everything, including STL (Standard Template Library, the C++ new standard library).

However, this book is, like all of the previous editions, NOT a language/programming tutorial. To read this book, you will need tons of C++ & OOP knowledge, even if you are an ace C programmer (since C is quite different from C++ in "The Way of Thinking"). Especially, if you are a novice, please read one or two "good" primer book before coming to this one, otherwise you will get lost easily. (Believe me, it's happened to me before when I tried to read the 2nd edition).

Moreover. In this edition, the author, Bjarne Stroustrup, added 2 more appendixes on "locales" and "standard library exception safety", which would make this book even more useful and more complete than any previous editions. And would make this become "A Bible" for C++ Programmaing Language.

If you are a "serious" C++ programmer (or wannabe), you can't get anything better than this. This is a MUST!


Excellent, useful, complete. Requires interest and effort.   January 11, 2000
Clayton (Burnaby, Canada)
75 out of 82 found this review helpful

This book is inappropriate for a person who is new to programming. It is even more inappropriate for a quick-and-easy programmer who wants to learn practical skills as quickly as possible but lacks the interest and desire to achieve a high level of skill.

Bookshelves are overflowing with books for these two types of people. Instead of adding another title to that flood, Bjarne Stroustrup delivers a well-written, well-structured book that helps in a challenging area where good resources like this one are needed.

To those who dislike the writing style, I say "sorry, find another book." If you find the sentences hard to read, it is because they are written at a level of clarity and precision required by the concepts. If you find the concepts hard to understand, it is because they are presented with an insightfulness and thoroughness required by the academic/technical audience it is written for. This is neither your fault nor the author's: the book just wasn't written for you.

When I was learning C++, I also found this book difficult and challenging, but with effort I was able to read and understand it. The more I know, the more useful the book is to me, and the happier I am that I put in that effort. In a sense it is a complete reference not only to the language but also to the design paradigm(s) that inspired the language.

The concepts of OOP / generic programming aren't too bad at the surface level. But try and understand them enough to use them to construct complicated systems well, and they are genuinely hard. Every time I struggled with some aspect of the book, I realized once I understood it that Stroustrup had presented it in the best way possible. That's the best part of this book: you can trust that the author is guiding you from a position of knowledge and experience. But what else should we expect from the creator of C++? We are implicitly trusting him anyway by using his language.


Opinions on software design worth the price alone.   September 22, 2000
Robert Gamble (Falmouth, MA United States)
24 out of 27 found this review helpful

I bought this book shortly after picking up the Waite Group's C++ Primer Plus. I have a Computer Science minor, but primarily programmed in Pascal before deciding to learn C++. The book is not at all easy to read as mentioned in previous reviews but the amount of information combined with the author's (obvious) understanding of how best to use many features of the language makes the reading worth it. DO NOT buy this book and expect it to be a Primer or a tutorial for a beginner. If you do, then you have no business writing a bad review about it because this was not the intent of the book.

As mentioned, the writing style is disorganized and I haven't even tried to read it 'cover to cover'. Usually what happens is I use the Waite guide to get my feet wet on a concept, jump to Eckel's "Thinking in C++" for a more in depth explanation and finally open up Stroustrup's book for the 'final word' on how and why to use the concept.

Finally, the last 3 chapters of the book are worth the price alone. Sure, not all of the discussion will have personal relevance when he talks about software projects and the pitfalls, but there is a lot of a good advice and points to ponder. Design is the hardest part of the programming process (or at least the most important) and it's nice to see a book that treats the subject with both authority and respect.