Book Image

C++ Fundamentals

By : Antonio Mallia, Francesco Zoffoli
Book Image

C++ Fundamentals

By: Antonio Mallia, Francesco Zoffoli

Overview of this book

C++ Fundamentals begins by introducing you to the C++ compilation model and syntax. You will then study data types, variable declaration, scope, and control flow statements. With the help of this book, you'll be able to compile fully working C++ code and understand how variables, references, and pointers can be used to manipulate the state of the program. Next, you will explore functions and classes — the features that C++ offers to organize a program — and use them to solve more complex problems. You will also understand common pitfalls and modern best practices, especially the ones that diverge from the C++98 guidelines. As you advance through the chapters, you'll study the advantages of generic programming and write your own templates to make generic algorithms that work with any type. This C++ book will guide you in fully exploiting standard containers and algorithms, understanding how to pick the appropriate one for each problem. By the end of this book, you will not only be able to write efficient code but also be equipped to improve the readability, performance, and maintainability of your programs.
Table of Contents (9 chapters)
C++ Fundamentals
Preface

Summary


In this chapter, the students were introduced to templates in C++. We saw that templates exist to create high-level abstractions that work independently from the types of the objects at zero overhead at runtime. We explained the concept of type requirements: the requirements a type must satisfy to work correctly with the templates. We then showed the students how to write function templates and class templates, mentioning dependent types as well, to give the students the tools to understand a class of errors that happen when writing template code.

We then showed how templates can work with non-type parameters, and how templates can be made easier to use by providing default template arguments, thanks to template argument deduction.

We then showed the students how to write more generic templates, thanks to the forwarding reference, std::forward, and the template parameter pack.

Finally, we concluded with some tools to make templates easier to read and more maintainable.

In the next chapter...