Secure Programming Cookbook for C and C++

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal on the cover of Secure Programming Cookbook for C and C++ is a crested porcupine. Crested porcupines (Hystrix cristata) are the largest porcupines on earth. Adults can weigh as much as 50 pounds, and their average length is between 25 and 30 inches. They have been known to live over 20 years while in captivity.

The crested porcupine is covered with black bristly fur. But running down the top of its head and neck is a crest of white bristly hairs that give way to an array of black and white spines that cover the animal’s back, sides, and short tail. The short spines on the tail are hollow, which makes them rattle when shaken.

Highly adaptable creatures, crested porcupines can live in forests, plantations, rocky or mountainous areas, as well as deserts. They are found in Italy, Sicily, and along the Mediterranean coast of Africa as far south as Tanzania and northern Congo. They take shelter in caves, rock crevices, aardvark holes, or burrows they dig themselves. These burrows are often extensive and can be used for many years.

Crested porcupines live in monogamous pairs and form family groups sharing complex burrows. They are nocturnal and forage at night, moving along tracks or roads. They will often travel up to nine miles ...