In article <32pag2$sv@covina.lightside.com>,
mastervue <mastervue@covina.lightside.com> wrote:
>In article <9408140307.A3921wk@toronto.can.ipguild.org>, sunil.puri@toronto.can.ipguild.org says:
>>
>>
>>What are good C++ books for advanced programmers?
>Try Windows++ by Paul DeLascia
>and Effective C++ by Scott Myers

I second the recommendation of Effecive C++.  Meyers (I'm looking at the
cover as I type this--this is the correct spelling :-) is a wonderful
writer who gets his points accross without being stuffy or taking himself
(or the reader!) too seriously.  The book's subtitle is "50 Specific Ways
to Improve Your Programs and Designs."  Each of the 50 suggestions is an
essay that is liberally sprinkled with helpful references to other parts
of the book.  It was reviewed @2-3 months ago on the C/C++ Journal mag.

-m

Michael J. Frankel
mjf@sashimi.wwa.com

Re: Scientific and Engineering C++: An Introduction with Advanced
    Techniques and Examples

This is in response to a comp.std.c++ inquiry posted about Advanced
C++ books, earlier in this thread.

I have long been waiting for the market to produce the next
landmark "advanced" C++ work.  While there is no lack of good introductory
material, little has been written about the techniques that real projects
must master to leverage the power of C++.  In their new book, Barton and
Nackman have risen to the challenge with some dynamite matierial.

Good abstraction is the foundation of all good system design and
programming, and this book takes us into new realms of abstraction
using C++.  Barton and Nackman take us beyond the pedestrian features
of C++, and demonstrate an unparalleled mastery of the language and its
principles.  They harness these principles and language features,
particularly the newer features such as templates, to capture important
design information that classes and inheritance alone would miss.

This book captures emerging experience with 3.0 vintage C++ at a level
that is far beyond the state of the practice of the rest of the industry.
This book is to the emerging X3J16 standard, what "Advanced C++" was
to the then-emerging 3.0 version of the language.  It captures what
the industry has learned about Advanced C++ programming in the past
three years, a period that has been a desert for new publications at
the high end of the spectrum.

My main complaint about this book is its title.  This book not only
describes a framework useful to scientific and engineering programmers,
but presents techniques that most serious C++ programmers should
learn about.  It's fine that the scientific community take advantage
of these new insights, but why should they have all the fun?  To
me, the title of this book says, "Go look at other books unless you're
a scientist, engineer, or mathematician."  Addison-Wesley has missed
a golden opportunity to reach out to the broader C++ community with
this book.  Though the examples come from engineering applications,
the design principles, idioms, and constructs are independent of the
domain of application.  A non-engineering reader of this book will pick
up on that immediately.  As an early reviewer of this book, I implored
the Addison-Wesley editor--Tom Stone--to change the title and broaden
the marketing focus.  He was unrepentant;  something about science &
engineering programming being an important market segment.  Don't let
the title fool you:  this book is accessible to, and applicable to,
anyone who does serious C++ programming.

A standard caveat applies here:  this is an advanced book.  It ramps
up very quickly.  You'll be O.K. if you already have solid C++ experience
under your belt, but--like "Advanced C++"--this book is not for beginners.
(At least AW slipped "Advanced" into the subtitle.)

As author of the first Advanced C++ book, my hat goes off to these
authors.  In my opinion, "Scientific and Engineering C++" is the
reigning advanced C++ book.  It's a must-read for all who consider
themselves to be professional C++ programmers.

>>>>> "L" == Lee Nackman <lrn@watson.ibm.com> writes:

L> John J. Barton and Lee R. Nackman, "Scientific and Engineering C++:
L> An Introduction with Advanced Techniques and Examples",
L> Addison-Wesley, 1994, ISBN 0-201-53393-6.

I think advertising your own book on NetNews is a sign of utterly bad
taste, so my only opportunity to save Mr. Nackman's face is to
recommend the book myself.

I have read major parts of it, and it does make a great deal of sense
to me.  I think it serves its intended audience well.  I would have
liked another major example, or perhaps a "war story" from some group
using C++ for scientific computing, inspite of its current size.

     -- Dag Bruck

In article <33ds36$b9l@fido.asd.sgi.com>, pj@sam.wpd.sgi.com (Paul Jackson) said
> In article <33cdf7$hip@nntp2.Stanford.EDU>, how@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dana How) writes:
> |> mcook@lna.logica.com (Michael Cook) writes:
> |> > James O. Coplien's book, _Advanced C++_ is pretty good ..
> |> >
> |> I STRONGLY recommend that people skip the first book.  I started reading it
> |> with a noncritical attitude, but .. sloppy and imprecise, but also feels
> |> compelled to use 50c words .. when simpler ones would do ..
>
> Yeah - but he sounds so smart and all that I don't dare admit I
> I can't understand it all .. -;
>
> I do value the book.  It does tackle concepts that others don't.
> But only when it is important that I do some serious learning is
> it worth the struggle.

After seeing a number of other posts recommending the Coplien thing,
I can see I'm in the minority here.  Personally I prefer the approach
of the Meyer book and the like because they show much more evidence of
being thoughtfully written and organized than merely "sounding smart"
through puffed-up diction, and I tend to remember better those things
which are better organized and presented.  I think any "struggle" with
the Coplien book would be the result of its poor writing;  I have seen
much more "serious learning" presented in an effortless manner.

Dana How

What are good C++ books for advanced programmers?

Here's a preliminary impression of a new book (which I've browsed
but not yet read in full):

 "Scientific and Engineering C++:
 An Introduction with Advanced Techniques and Examples".

 John J Barton
 Lee R Nackman

 Addison-Wesley, 1994.
 ISBN  0-201-53393-6.

First: this is not a "tips and hints" style of book, but a 650 page
heavyweight. It covers basic details, but concentrates on
design issues. Its packed with example code, diagrams, formulas,
discussion, and exercises.

Second: The book is oriented to Scientists and Engineers, using
examples from that rich field -- a pleasant change from
the usual lightweight and oft repeated examples, but somewhat
daunting to those outside those fields. The examples are,
however, that much more realistic and complete because of this.
Judging from the long (professional :-) names of classes, much
of the code is taken from real working software.
For programmers in other fields, the book will be rewarding
but a bit more work may be required.

Third: the theoretical design issues are soundly approached.
This often isnt the case in many publications (which often
have "object oriented" prominently displayed in their titles).
By contrast, Barton and Nackman know what they are talking
about both as theoreticians and pragmatic programmers.
The book _really_ emphasises design, not C++ programming.

Summary: this is one of the few truly "advanced" C++ books
available. (Coplien is the other :-)

Be prepared to do some _work_ with this book and be
well rewarded.

Strongly recommended for advanced C++ programmers (all fields)
and all scientific and engineering people who expect to
be doing a bit of C++ programming. (The latter will need
a primer as well to start off).

[Now I'd better go off and read it :-]

--
        JOHN (MAX) SKALLER,         INTERNET:maxtal@suphys.physics.su.oz.au
 Maxtal Pty Ltd,
        81A Glebe Point Rd, GLEBE   Mem: SA IT/9/22,SC22/WG21
        NSW 2037, AUSTRALIA     Phone: 61-2-566-2189

I was browsing in the bookstore and stumbled on a book titled "Taming C++" by
Jiri Sokup.  After flipping thro the preface and the chapters looks like it
is a good book for advanced programming using C++ and program design.
--
==============================================================
| Pravin Santiago        | Email: santiago@rock.enet.dec.com |
| SEG                    | Disclaimer:                       |
| Digital Equipment Corp.| "I speak for myself, not Digital" |
| Hudson, MA.            |                                   |
==============================================================

>>>>> "sp" == sunil puri <sunil.puri@toronto.can.ipguild.org> writes:

    sp> What are good C++ books for advanced programmers?

James O. Coplien's book, _Advanced C++_ is pretty good (Addison-Wesley, 1993,
ISBN: 0-201-54855-0), except that it may leave you doubting that you'll ever
be able to write a non-trivial C++ program that is maintainable.

A book that is very good from a practical standpoint is _C++ Programming
Style_ by Tom Cargill (Addison-Wesley, 1992, ISBN: 0-201-56365-7).  He takes
C++ code that has been published in other books and he does a sort of code
review, showing what's wrong with the code and how it could have been done
better.

Michael.

In article <9408140307.A3921wk@toronto.can.ipguild.org>, sunil.puri@toronto.can.ipguild.org says:
>
>
>What are good C++ books for advanced programmers?
Try Windows++ by Paul DeLascia
and Effective C++ by Scott Myers

also worth looking into:
Advanced C++ Programming Styles and Idioms by Jim Coplien

--
Steve Berczuk   berczuk@mit.edu
MIT Center for Space Research (617) 253-3840

In article <9408140307.A3921wk@toronto.can.ipguild.org>, sunil.puri@toronto.can.ipguild.org writes:
|>
|> What are good C++ books for advanced programmers?

John Barton and I have recently published a book that might meet your
needs:

John J. Barton and Lee R. Nackman, "Scientific and Engineering C++: An
Introduction with Advanced Techniques and Examples", Addison-Wesley,
1994, ISBN 0-201-53393-6.

It is a book about C++ programming, with the examples drawn from
science and engineering.  It ramps up to advanced material quite
rapidly.  More information, including the back cover blurb, preface,
and table of contents is available via anonymous ftp to aw.com in
directory aw.computer.science/c++SciEn.

Lee Nackman

In article <32toto$n7o@news.iastate.edu> guthrie@miu.edu writes:

> In article <9408140307.A3921wk@toronto.can.ipguild.org>,
> <sunil.puri@toronto.can.ipguild.org> writes:
> > What are good C++ books for advanced programmers?

> "Functional Programming Using Standard ML"   Paulson    :-)

Do you mean

 "Functional Programming Using Standard ML"  Wikstrom  (umlaut over the o)

or

 "ML for the Working Programmer"  Paulson?

More seriously, it seems that a number of C++ programmers I know
program in ML also.  Maybe it's because the two languages are so
completely different from each other.  I find that each one enhances
my understanding of the other.

--
    --Andrew Koenig
      ark@research.att.com

What are good C++ books for advanced programmers?