C++ Software Design

Preface

In your hands you’re holding the C++ book that I wish I would have had many years ago. Not as one of my first books, no, but as an advanced book, after I had already digested the language mechanics and was able to think beyond the C++ syntax. Yes, this book would have definitely helped me better understand the fundamental aspects of maintainable software, and I’m confident that it will help you too.

Why I Wrote This Book

By the time I was really digging into the language (that was a few years after the first C++ standard had been released), I had read pretty much every C++ book there was. But despite the fact that many of these books were great and definitely paved the way for my current career as a C++ trainer and consultant, they were too focused on the little details and the implementation specifics, and too far away from the bigger picture of maintainable software.

At the time, very few books truly focused on the bigger picture, dealing with the development of large software systems. Among these were John Lakos’s Large Scale C++ Software Design,¹ a great but literally heavy introduction to dependency management, and the so-called Gang of Four book, which is the classic book on software design patterns.² Unfortunately, over the years, this situation hasn’t really changed: most books, talks, blogs, etc., primarily focus on language mechanics and features—the small details and specifics. Very few, and in my opinion way too few, new releases focus on maintainable software, ...