C++ in a Nutshell

by Ray Lischner, E.J. Koh, Athena Dixon

Book Overview

To-the-point, authoritative, no-nonsense solutions have always been a trademark of O'Reilly books. The In a Nutshell books have earned a solid reputation in the field as the well-thumbed references that sit beside the knowledgeable developer's keyboard. C++ in a Nutshell lives up to the In a Nutshell promise. C++ in a Nutshell is a lean, focused reference that offers practical examples for the most important, most often used, aspects...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 059600298X
• ISBN13: 9780596002985
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 808 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.9" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent reference

I always like O'Reilly books and are usually what I purchase. The "In A Nutshell" may be misleading to some. Just think of it as "C++ A Language & Library Reference." If you are a beginner looking for a how to, this isn't the one for you. "Thinking in C++" by Bruce Eckel (great book), or "Practical C++ Programming" would be the one a beginner would want. However, when you are ready to explore the inter-details about what C++ classes provides, this would be a good one to add to your collection. The first half describes C++ in general, while the last half details the language reference. I like how the reference is structured, grouped by the easy to find header declaration at the bottom of the page. Quickly finding what you need is a great feature here. You can only do so much "std::cout << "hi" << std::endl; without a reference and this one covers the missing details. Not for beginners, but an excellent reference.

Excellent reference for the practicing programmer

Most of the "reference" books I've seen for C++ have been more advanced primers (lippman/lajoie, pratta, josuttis). This is the first book I've seen for someone who knows C++, has been using it for some time, and needs a library and language reference. A welcome addition to my desk, especially since I learned C++ in 1992 and sometimes still need a gentle push away from archaic usage.The language reference is concise but appears complete, and I disagree with the reviewer who said it is poorly organized (the library reference is alphabetical by library, the language reference follows the same convention everyone else does: Basics,Declarations,Expressions,Statements,Functions,Classes,Templates,I/O,Containers). The library reference is very, very valuable, often providing usage and code snippets as well as syntax.This won't replace all the books on your shelf (you do have Effective C++ and More Effective C++, right?) but it will be a well used reference if you are a professional software guy (or faking it).

Excellent reference

O'Reilly has done it again. C++ in a Nutshell is a great reference. The first 275 pages are a technical introduction to the language. The next 50 pages provide a preprocessor and language reference. The final 400 pages provide a reference to the library. Those last 400 pages are the real gem. Sections are organized by header file (e.g. ). A full prototype of each major class is provided and each function is explained individually. Also, the index is complete, so it's easy to find information on a class or function you're looking for. Descriptions are complete, but concise---all the information you need and not a char more.This book isn't for beginners, but if you've had experience with C or C++ and are looking for a complete, well-organized reference to C++, this is the book to get.

An excellent Nutshell. C++? A+!

I bought this to replace another C/C++ reference book. The other book was abysmal, with poor organisation, lacks of detail, depth and clarity. The Nutshell is a refreshing delight. It covers everything about C++, from the ground up. It's not a tutorial, but anyone familiar with C should be able to grasp C++ from this reference. Very detailed, even including a BNF grammar of the language. Excellent.

Very useful

This is an excellent reference designed to give you precise definitions and usage for the C++ language features and library according to the C++ Standard. Unless you are a novice, it will save you time. In the past, when I needed to lookup something, I used to gladly dive into the Stroustrup's "C++ Programming Language" or Josuttis's "The C++ Standard Library". While indispensable and authoritative, these volumes are *NOT* designed for easy reference work; reading them takes time, and what should have been a 30-second lookup inevitably turned into a 30-minute reading. The "C++ In A Nutshell" helps to solve this problem, in addition to putting all the relevant resources at your fingertips in one volume.