Name: Anonymous 2011-12-20 9:34
This is an important book, an important addition to the culture, not only for its historical perspective, but for the insight that it provides into the process of language definition, development, and specification.
You learn a lot about C++ programming, even though that's not Stroustrup's primary purpose. In explaining why he accepted or rejected proposed features, Stroustrup offers examples of alternatives that reveal better ways to use C++ -- ways made possible by the underlying behavior of the language, ways that programmers discovered rather than designed. He often expresses his own surprise at their discovery, which adds insight to the complexities of the language. Even its creator has to discover (or be told about) an idiom that applies the language's underlying behavior to the expression of a particular solution.
The Design and Evolution of C++ is a study in language structure and design, revealing Stroustrup's resolute philosophy about how a programming language should work and what compromises are necessary to assure its success. Most criticisms of C++ fall into two categories, the legacy of language constructs that descended from C, and its static (compile-time) type checking system, which purists view as being less than object-oriented. Stroustrup deals with both. First, he could have built a better language instead of a better C. He could have assigned less importance to compatibility with C. "Within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner language struggling to get out," which he says "would ... have been an unimportant cult language." Second, he is committed to the concept of static (as opposed to dynamic) type checking as being inherently safer and essential to retain the efficiency of C. Without that guarantee, programmers used to C's efficiency will not switch to a new language no matter what promise it holds.
We programmers sometimes believe that programming languages come from one of two places: large paradigm-polluting bureaucracies belching out behemoths such as COBOL and ADA, or independent free spirits who, in one bright light of inspiration, sit down and cobble a terse, elegant, language like C or C++ to endure for generations. This book tells a different tale, and you learn of the contributions of a number of collaborators both within AT&T and later on the Committee. Stroustrup gives credit where it is due and names names. Whether or not you like a feature or bemoan the absense of one, you can usually find out whose idea it was by reading this book. C++ is the product of the minds of many participants over a long period of time with Stroustrup as the focal point.
The Design and Evolution of C++ expands your understanding of C++ by explaining how and why it evolved. You will be more tolerant of some of its vagaries once you understand the alternatives. You will embrace new features after you've learned their motivations. You will anxiously wait for your favorite compiler vendor to release versions that implement the new features so that you can try them out. If you write C++ code, you need this book.
You learn a lot about C++ programming, even though that's not Stroustrup's primary purpose. In explaining why he accepted or rejected proposed features, Stroustrup offers examples of alternatives that reveal better ways to use C++ -- ways made possible by the underlying behavior of the language, ways that programmers discovered rather than designed. He often expresses his own surprise at their discovery, which adds insight to the complexities of the language. Even its creator has to discover (or be told about) an idiom that applies the language's underlying behavior to the expression of a particular solution.
The Design and Evolution of C++ is a study in language structure and design, revealing Stroustrup's resolute philosophy about how a programming language should work and what compromises are necessary to assure its success. Most criticisms of C++ fall into two categories, the legacy of language constructs that descended from C, and its static (compile-time) type checking system, which purists view as being less than object-oriented. Stroustrup deals with both. First, he could have built a better language instead of a better C. He could have assigned less importance to compatibility with C. "Within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner language struggling to get out," which he says "would ... have been an unimportant cult language." Second, he is committed to the concept of static (as opposed to dynamic) type checking as being inherently safer and essential to retain the efficiency of C. Without that guarantee, programmers used to C's efficiency will not switch to a new language no matter what promise it holds.
We programmers sometimes believe that programming languages come from one of two places: large paradigm-polluting bureaucracies belching out behemoths such as COBOL and ADA, or independent free spirits who, in one bright light of inspiration, sit down and cobble a terse, elegant, language like C or C++ to endure for generations. This book tells a different tale, and you learn of the contributions of a number of collaborators both within AT&T and later on the Committee. Stroustrup gives credit where it is due and names names. Whether or not you like a feature or bemoan the absense of one, you can usually find out whose idea it was by reading this book. C++ is the product of the minds of many participants over a long period of time with Stroustrup as the focal point.
The Design and Evolution of C++ expands your understanding of C++ by explaining how and why it evolved. You will be more tolerant of some of its vagaries once you understand the alternatives. You will embrace new features after you've learned their motivations. You will anxiously wait for your favorite compiler vendor to release versions that implement the new features so that you can try them out. If you write C++ code, you need this book.