FAQ 1.04 Is this a book about C per se?

FAQ 1.04 Is this a book about C++ per se?

This is a C++ book with a twist.

This book focuses on the object-oriented aspects of C++. Thus, whenever you see the word "C++," you should assume that the words "object-oriented" are present (and we'll occasionally inject the words "object-oriented" as a reminder to the reader).

This book focuses on practical ways to use C++; it does not explore all of the dark corners of the language beloved by "language lawyers." In this way, this book is not the traditional C++ book written from the perspective of the language and stressing the syntax and features of C++ in all their gory detail. Instead, this book concentrates on the key aspects of C++ (such as its OO features) and how to apply them effectively. Another reason for this approach is that the language is so large that it is hard for developers to understand what is relevant and how to apply it.

In this vein, one of the main contributions of this book is to focus on the moral use of C++ rather than simply describing the legal use of C++. In this context, using C++ morally means adhering to a programming discipline (i.e., a subset of all possible combinations of all the constructs of C++) that is relatively risk-free (whereas using C++ legally simply refers to any use of the language that the compiler accepts). We have found that many of the problems that developers run into stem from trying to combine C++ features in incompatible and seemingly random ways; therefore using C++ morally is vital to using C++ effectively.

This book also tries to bridge the gap between software architecture and OO design and C++ programming (see Chapter 4).