Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130224871 ISBN 13: 9780130224873

Publisher: Prentice Hall Ptr, 1999

Review:

Today's C++ has built-in support for containers and other pre-defined utility classes in its C++ Standard Library and Standard Template Library (STL). Aimed at the intermediate C++ programmer, Visual C++ Templates delivers a full tour of STL that will help anyone incorporate this library into their everyday programming repertoire.

The STL can be used to simplify development with containers like vectors (resizeable arrays), lists, and maps. The heart of this book provides a nicely approachable tutorial on these container types, along with examples geared toward Visual C++ 6. (In the past, STL didn't coexist well with the Microsoft foundation class library (MFC). The authors provide the correct code, including a tour of the new Standard Library header files, which supercede the older C headers.) They also cover other standard classes (like strings and complex numbers), which help simplify everyday programming tasks.

The real power of STL is arguably in its support for "generic programming" techniques, and the authors do a fine job here of outlining these features up close without getting bogged down in the often arcane syntax of STL. They look at dozens of algorithms (which can be used to sort or modify data in collections, for instance), as well as the various iterator classes (which are used to navigate through containers).

STL will perhaps never be easy to master, but Visual C++ Templates makes it more approachable for any programmer who wants to improve his or her basic skills with these standard--but sometimes difficult--classes. Written by two expert computer authors (who besides being educators have written over four dozen books together), this title fills a worthwhile niche by demystifying STL and making it something that you can use every day for greater productivity. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Overview of the Standard C++ Library and the Standard Template Library (STL), STL history and features, STL reference, tutorial, sample code, template syntax, template functions and classes, namespaces, new casting operations, STL function objects, exception handling, STL support templates, algorithm and iterator reference and tutorial, vectors, stacks and queues, lists, maps, numeric support templates, sets and multisets, allocators, bitsets, C++ Standard Library header files reference, assertions, exceptions, types and strings, time functions, streams, and valarrays.

From the Inside Flap:

Programming with the STL and Windows MFC

This is an exciting time to be a programmer-exciting, but sometimes a little scary. The knowledge base for C and C++ programmers has grown tremendously in the past few years. The first hurtle included procedure-oriented Windows programming, but has now grown to include object-oriented MFC Windows programming, OLE, STL and more!

This book assumes a knowledge of object-oriented C++ programming at the beginner/intermediate level. You'll quickly apply your programming knowledge to these new programming concepts.

In this book, Murray and Pappas will guide you through a solid integrated understanding of the latest STL (Standard Template Library) concepts couple with MFC's (Microsoft Foundation Class library) programming concepts that apply to both Windows 98 and Windows 2000.

The first six chapters deal exclusively with the STL. You'll learn terms, definitions and reasons for using the STL. Many command line examples will teach new programming concepts in simple applications.

In the next six chapters, you'll learn how to develop object-oriented MFC Windows applications. It's all here-wizards, icons, cursors, menus, dialog boxes and more. When you complete this group of chapters, you'll have a solid understanding of object-oriented programming under Windows.

In the final four chapters, STL concepts from the first six chapters are integrated with MFC Windows applications, from the second six chapters, to build robust MFC Windows applications using the STL. When you complete these four chapters, you understand how well both the STL and MFC integrate together to produce powerful new applications.