Inside the C++ Object Model

Bestselling author Stanley B. Lippman's Inside the C++ Model provides valuable insight into some of the internal workings of the C++ language. This book is a product of a decade of research at Bell Labs (where Lippman worked with C++ inventor Bjarne Stroustrup) and Lippman's considerable C++ expertise. Written with the experienced C++ programmer in mind, this book looks at how key language features are implemented underneath the hood and provides some guidelines when designing C++ classes.

This title first examines how C++ objects work--showing the differences between C++ structures and classes. The author looks carefully at the varieties of C++ constructors, including default and copy constructors, data members, and initialization.

Subsequent sections cover inheritance, including virtual inheritance, and the inner details that will help you create effective and robust data types. The author frequently points out inefficiencies (and efficiencies) that can occur when instantiating objects. The book closes with a tour of more advanced C++ language features, such as templates, exception handling, and run-time type information. This book can help make you the resident C++ language expert at your programming shop. --Richard Dragan