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C++ FAQs (2nd Edition) Review by Dave O'Hearn
DON'T!! It was published in 1998!!
Summary: Don't buy it. Don't even read it. Get Sutter or Meyers instead, or see my other recommendations below.
Chances are, you heard about this book from a Usenet FAQ. The authors maintain the "FAQ-lite" as they call it, a free document available on the net, and encourage you to buy the "full" FAQ, which is this book.
Don't be scammed by this cheap marketing tactic. If you're going to buy a book from a famous author, it should be an author who's famous for writing published BOOKS, not free FAQs. These authors don't qualify.
It is abominable that they continue to advertise this ancient tome. Although C++ itself has not changed since 1998, the techniques and best practices for using it have matured tremendously. (As just one example, the book encourages homebrew reference counting! And exception specifications! And, and...) The attitudes of programmers have likewise matured. The book is loaded with "OOP evangelism" that was dated in 1998 and is just laughable by modern standards.
(If it matters, in addition to being grossly dated, the book is plain bad. The authors behave themselves as spoiled Usenet divas, using phrases like "not moral" and "evil" and "that wastes money" to describe techniques they disapprove of, rather than giving a clear technical analysis. They expect you to take their authority on faith.)
These days, the C++ community generally recommands the following. Of course, check the reviews on each specific book:
- Introduction: _Accelerated C++_
- Big Tome of Goodness: _The C++ Programming Language_
- Advice and tips from experts: Anything from Herb Sutter or Scott Meyers
There's more, but that stuff is always a safe bet. C++ FAQs, on the other hand, was preachy, evangelical trash when written, and is now almost 7 years dated. It's scarcely fit to burn, much less read.