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My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is
theoretical, and I've no doubt that this column will reflect that.
(That's double-speak for "I don't know what I'm talking about half the
time"!) It's my belief that all languages are imperfect, and that C++
is
no exception.
Where C++ has the advantage over other languages is in its support for
close-to-the bone efficiency and
at the same time supporting the expression of high-level concepts. It
also has its own built-in self-repair mechanism in its powerful (though
still imperfect) templates mechanism.
So as well as providing you with some useful efficient code, the intent
in this column is to share with you the various pros and cons of the
solutions presented in the hope that you may find some of it
illuminating. (There's not much point in having a column if you can't
achieve that every now and then, one would think!)
Open-RJ and Ch Matthew takes a look at the Open-RJ library, along with its mapping to Ch and C++.NET.
Flexible C++ #8: Union Casts Considered Harmful, but Necessary Unions in C and C++ are aggregate quantities like structs, except that each element of the union has offset 0, and the total size of the union is only as large as is required to hold its largest member [1]. Only one member of a union may be "active" at a time.
Flexible C++ #6: Flexible Implementations Without Using Directives It is widely accepted that using directives are an unacceptable part of the public interface of library code. This is because a using directive indiscriminately makes visible all symbols within the referenced namespace from the point of directive declaration, raising the potential for symbol clash (which is what namespaces were created to circumvent).
Flexible C++ #5: Friendly Templates Matthew looks at the subject of friendly templates from the perspective of granting friendship from a template to one of the template's parameterizing types.
Flexible C++ #4: Efficient Integer To String Conversions This is the final installment in the integer-to-string series. The previous two installments and the original article described different approaches to the efficient conversion of integers into strings. This time arround, I continue with the "Flexible C++" philosophy, and consider one last variation.
AMD Unveils Its Fastest Desktop Chip Advanced Micro Devices Inc. introduced its fastest desktop processor, heating up competition with rival chip maker Intel Corp. for the hearts of PC enthusiasts and hard-core gamers.
CMP DevNet Spotlight
Secure Start: Less is More Software Development Magazine The stingier you are with access, the safer your system becomes.
Flexible C++
Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it
is
theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.
BYTE Digest editors every month analyze and evaluate the best articles from Information Week, EE Times, Dr. Dobb's Journal, Network Computing, Sys Admin,
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