The Hands-On C++ Seminar

Taught by Chuck Allison
Hosted by Bruce Eckel

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• Covers all the essential features of the Standard C++ language.



• Designed to bring seasoned C programmers into C++ as rapidly as possible.



• Created by Bruce Eckel, who has over 10 years of experience teaching seminars.



• Based on Thinking in C++, 2nd Edition, Vol. 1, the first edition of which won the Software Development Magazine "Jolt" award for best book.



• See the Java Seminar Page for recent testimonials about these seminars.

The emphasis of this hands-on, exercise-based course is understanding OOP and how C++ implements the features of OOP, and in learning the features of the language which are in common use so programmers can comfortably read typical C++ code. Topics are presented a step at a time, with a focus on individual features and their motivation. Following each step, one or more exercises will be worked by the class so students learn the techniques through direct experience.

Many of the language features will be examined for their effect on size and speed overhead, so programmers may understand which features are "free," which are "expensive," and how to reasonably migrate to C++. Design issues will be presented in the context of language features.

Bring your copy of Bruce Eckel's Thinking in C++, 2nd Edition (Prentice-Hall, 2000), which will be used as the text for the class. The CD in the back of the book includes the source code, and students will receive printed slides as handouts.

Topics:

1. Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming: Programming for Change. This section introduces the course and gives an introduction to the basic concepts and features of OOP as well as an introduction to analysis and design. We then discuss making the transition from C to C++.



2. Making and Using Objects. Most features in C++ revolve around this key concept: making and using new data types, classes, in C++. Here we introduce some of the key classes as well C++ syntax and programming concepts.



3. Data Abstraction: structs + functions = data types. The simple idea of putting functions into structs lays the groundwork for more powerful OOP abilities.



4. Hiding the Implementation for Code Control. You can decide that some of the data and functions in your structure are unavailable to the user of the new type by making them private. This means you can separate the underlying implementation from the user's interface and, thus, allow for that implementation to be easily changed without affecting the user's code. The keyword class is also introduced as a fancier way to describe a new data type, and the meaning of the word "object" is demystified.



5. Guaranteed Initialization and Cleanup. One of the most common C errors results from un-initialized variables. The constructor in C++ lets you guarantee that variables of your new data type (a.k.a. "objects of your class") will always be properly initialized. If your objects also require some sort of cleanup, you can guarantee that this cleanup will always happen with the C++ destructor.



6. The Convenience of Function Overloading & Default Arguments. C++ is intended to help you develop big, complex projects. Since you may be using multiple librarieswith the same function names, function overloading allows you to re-use the same function name as long as the argument lists are different. Default arguments let you call the same function in different ways by automatically providing default values for some of your arguments.



7. Using Constants for Object and Program Safety. The const and volatile keywords have additional meaning in C++, as well as different meanings inside and outside classes. You'll also see what applying const to pointers means.



8. Inline Functions: Do's and Don'ts of Optimizing. Preprocessor macros eliminate function call overhead, but the preprocessor also eliminates valuable C++ type checking. The inline function gives you all the benefits of a preprocessor macro plus all the benefits of a real function call.



9. Name Control for Large-Project Construction. Creating names is a fundamental activity in programming, and when a project gets large, the number of names can be overwhelming. This section shows how the static keyword is used to control visibility and linkage, and its special meaning with classes. A more useful technique is C++'s namespace feature, which allows you to break up the global name space into distinct regions.



10. References & the Copy-Constructor: When to Pass by Value. C++ pointers work like C pointers with the added benefit of stronger C++ type checking. From Algol and Pascal, C++ lifts the reference, which lets the compiler handle the address manipulation while you use ordinary notation. You'll also meet the copy-constructor, which controls the way objects are passed into and out of functions by value.



11. Operator Overloading or "Syntactic Sugar". This feature is sometimes called "syntactic sugar", as it lets you sweeten the syntax for using your type by allowing operators as well as function calls. In this section, you'll learn how operator overloading is really just a different type of function call, and you'll learn how to write your own.



12. Dynamic Object Creation: Creating and Destroying Objects at Run-Time. In the general programming problem, you can't know the quantity, lifetime, or type of the objects needed by your running program. In this section, learn how C++'s new and delete elegantly solve this problem by safely creating objects on the heap.



13. Creating New Types with Inheritance & Composition. Data abstraction allows you to create new types from scratch; with inheritance and composition you can create new types from existing types. Inheritance lets you create a more specific version of an existing type; with composition you assemble a new type using other types as pieces. In this section you'll learn the syntax, how to redefine functions, and construction and destruction for inheritance and composition.



14. Polymorphism & virtual Functions Made Simple. On your own, you might take nine months to discover and understand this cornerstone of OOP. Through small, simple examples you'll see how to create a family of types with inheritance and manipulate objects in that family through their common base class. The virtual keyword lets you treat all objects in this family generically, which means that the bulk of your code doesn't rely on specific type information.



15. Templates, Container Classes, and the Standard C++ Library. Inheritance and composition let you reuse object code, but that doesn't solve all your reuse needs. Templates let you reuse source code by providing the compiler with a way to substitute type names in the body of a class or function. This gives essential support for container class libraries, which are important tools for the rapid, robust development of programs (the Standard C++ Library includes a significant library of container classes).

Prerequisites

This course assumes you're a C programmer, since it is intended to move you from C into C++, and not to teach the C language. If you haven't been exposed to C, Chuck Allison's Thinking in C: Foundations for C++ & Java CD, packaged with the book, is a multimedia seminar of synchronized slides and audio lectures designed to introduce you to the aspects of C necessary for you to move to C++. People have often recommend The Waite Group's C Primer Plus as an introduction to C (personally, I learned from Jack Purdum's C Programming Guide which I liked very much. It may still be available, from Que). This is a challenging course; we'll move through the essential features of the C++ language, with exercises, in five days. Our goal is to give you enough learning experiences to push you to your limit, but not beyond.

What You Need

A notebook computer with an installed and tested C++ compiler. This should be the compiler you plan to develop with, since they all have idiosyncrasies (some quite significant) and by trying the exercises with your particular compiler you can learn in class what they are (with a teacher there who can distinguish for you the difference between a bug and a feature). It's very important that you properly install your compiler AND perform a test by compiling and running one or more sample programs. It is sometimes impossible to fix an improper installation during the class. If you're not sure, make sure you bring what you need to re-install the software (e.g. CD-ROM drive and the software CD).

If you don't yet have a favorite C++ compiler, Borland's C++ 5.5 is available free.

If you're a Unix programmer, it's best to find one of the Unixes that will run on a PC platform and install it on a notebook computer. Again, having the compiler in class that you're planning to use for your development will provide you with the most value in class.