Marc Gregoire’s Blog

I’m proud to announce that the new edition of my book “Professional C++, 6th Edition” is finished 🙂
It has been updated to the C++23 standard and uses certain C++23 features throughout all examples.

It is published by Wiley/Wrox, and available on Amazon.

Official Description

Expand your C++ knowledge quickly and efficiently with this advanced resource

In the newly revised sixth edition of Professional C++, veteran software engineer and developer Marc Gregoire delivers yet another volume that raises the bar for advanced programming manuals. Covering almost all features of the new C++ standard codenamed C++23, the book offers case studies with working code that’s been tested on Windows and Linux.

As the leading resource for dedicated and knowledgeable professionals seeking to advance their C++ skills, this book provides resources that help readers:

• Master new features of the latest standard, C++23
• Maximize C++ capabilities with effective design solutions
• Discover little-known elements and learn about pitfalls and what practices to avoid
• Grasp testing and debugging best practices
• Learn about tips and tricks for efficiency and performance

C++ is a complex language. Professional C++, 6th Edition, allows dedicated practitioners to remain current and abreast of the latest developments and advances.

After working on it for a year, I’m proud to announce my new book “Professional C++, 5th Edition” is finished 🙂

It has been updated to the C++20 standard and uses certain C++20 features, such as modules and std::format(), throughout all examples.

It is published by Wiley/Wrox, and available on Amazon.

Official Description

Improve your existing C++ competencies quickly and efficiently with this advanced volume

Professional C++, 5^th Edition raises the bar for advanced programming manuals. Complete with a comprehensive overview of the new capabilities of C++20, each feature of the newly updated programming language is explained in detail and with examples. Case studies that include extensive, working code round out the already impressive educational material found within. 

Without a doubt, the new 5^th Edition of Professional C++ is the leading resource for dedicated and knowledgeable professionals who desire to advance their skills and improve their abilities. This book contains resources to help readers: 

• Maximize the capabilities of C++ with effective design solutions  
• Master little-known elements of the language and learn what to avoid  
• Adopt new workarounds and testing/debugging best practices  
• Utilize real-world program segments in your own applications 

Notoriously complex and unforgiving, C++ requires its practitioners to remain abreast of the latest developments and advancements. Professional C++, 5^th Edition ensures that its readers will do just that. 

A friend of mine published a new book, titled “C++ Lambda Story”. The book explains everything you need to know about lambda expressions in C++.

The book guides you through the evolution of C++ Lambda Expressions so that you can learn it step by step. It starts with C++03 and a motivation to have “ad-hoc” functors, and then moves into the latest C++ standards:

• C++11 – early days of the feature. You’ll learn about all the essential aspects of lambdas and several tricks you might apply. This is the longest chapter as it needs to cover a lot of topics.
• C++14 – updates. See how to use generic lambdas and captures with an initializer.
• C++17 – more improvements, especially by handling ‘this’ pointer and allowing ‘constexpr’. You’ll also learn about the overloaded pattern and how to derive from lambda.
• C++20 – in this section you’ll see all of the new features adopted for C++20 like template lambdas and how to use them with concepts and constexpr algorithms.

Additionally, throughout the chapters, you’ll learn about the following techniques:

• Immediately Invoked Functional Expressions (IIFE)
• How to instrument a default functor to gather extra information
• Replacing std::bind1st, std::bind2nd and removed functional stuff
• The Overloaded Pattern and how to inherit from a lambda
• Passing C++ captureless lambda as a function pointer to C API
• LIFTING with lambdas
• Storing lambdas in a container
• Variadic templates and arguments packs
• Lambdas and asynchronous execution
• and many more

The author, Bartłomiej Filipek, is giving a 28% discount to readers of my blog. This offer is valid until 27th of January 2021.
Follow this link to use the coupon if you are interested in this offer.

My friend Peter Van Weert finished a new edition of “Beginning C++20” for which I was technical editor. It’s a great book to learn C++20 for programmers new to C++ and those who may be looking for a refresh primer on C++ in general.

Here is the abstract:

Begin your programming journey with C++ , starting with the basics and progressing through step-by-step examples that will help you become a proficient C++ programmer. This book includes new features from the C++20 standard such as modules, concepts, ranges, and the spaceship operator. All you need are Beginning C++20 and any recent C++ compiler and you’ll soon be writing real C++ programs. There is no assumption of prior programming knowledge.

All language concepts that are explained in the book are illustrated with working program examples, and all chapters include exercises for you to test and practice your knowledge. Free source code downloads are provided for all examples from the text and solutions to the exercises.

This latest edition has been fully updated to the latest version of the language, C++20, and to all conventions and best practices of modern C++. Beginning C++20 also introduces the elements of the C++ Standard Library that provide essential support for the C++20 language.

What You Will Learn:

• Begin programming with the C++20 standard
• Carry out modular programming in C++
• Work with arrays and loops, pointers and references, strings, and more
• Write your own functions, types, and operators
• Discover the essentials of object-oriented programming
• Use overloading, inheritance, virtual functions, and polymorphism
• Write generic function and class templates, and make them safer using concepts 
• Learn the ins and outs of containers, algorithms, and ranges
• Use auto type declarations, exceptions, move semantics, lambda expressions, and much more

I’m happy to announce that the number 1 university in China, the Tsinghua University, has finished with the translation work for my book “Professional C++ 4th Edition“.

The Chinese version can be found here.

C++17 provides developers with a nice selection of new features to write better, more expressive code.

Bartłomiej Filipek has released a book titled “C++17 in Detail” that describes all significant changes in the language and the Standard Library. What’s more, it provides a lot of practical examples so you can quickly apply the knowledge to your code. The book brings you exclusive content about C++17. Additionally, the book provides insight into the current implementation status, compiler support, performance issues and other relevant knowledge to boost your current projects.

The book is a work in progress and is currently 90% finished. The final version should be coming in at around 250 pages. Even though it’s not finished yet, if you buy early, you’ll get free updates later.

Here are the features you’ll learn from reading this book:

Part One: C++17 Language features

• Fixes and deprecation
• Language clarification
• General language features
• Templates
• Attributes

Part Two: C++17 The Standard Library

• std::optional
• std::variant
• std::any
• std::string_view
• String operations
• Filesystem
• Parallel STL
• Other Changes

Part Three: More Examples and Use Cases

• Refactoring with std::optional
• Using if constexpr
• … and more planned

You can find more information on the book’s website.

It has been a lot of work, but I’m proud to announce my fourth edition of “Professional C++” 🙂
It is published by Wiley/Wrox.
And already available at Amazon.

Official Description

Get up to date quickly on the new changes coming with C++17

Professional C++ is the advanced manual for C++ programming. Designed to help experienced developers get more out of the latest release, this book skims over the basics and dives right in to exploiting the full capabilities of C++17. Each feature is explained by example, each including actual code snippets that you can plug into your own applications. Case studies include extensive, working code that has been tested on Windows and Linux, and the author’s expert tips, tricks, and workarounds can dramatically enhance your workflow. Even many experienced developers have never fully explored the boundaries of the language’s capabilities; this book reveals the advanced features you never knew about, and drills down to show you how to turn these features into real-world solutions.

The C++17 release includes changes that impact the way you work with C++; this new fourth edition covers them all, including nested namespaces, structured bindings, string_view, template argument deduction for constructors, parallel algorithms, generalized sum algorithms, Boyer-Moore string searching, string conversion primitives, a filesystem API, clamping values, optional values, the variant type, the any type, and more. Clear explanations and professional-level depth make this book an invaluable resource for any professional needing to get up to date quickly.

• Maximize C++ capabilities with effective design solutions
• Master little-known elements and learn what to avoid
• Adopt new workarounds and testing/debugging best practices
• Utilize real-world program segments in your own applications

C++ is notoriously complex, and whether you use it for gaming or business, maximizing its functionality means keeping up to date with the latest changes. Whether these changes enhance your work or make it harder depends on how well-versed you are in the newest C++ features. Professional C++ gets you up to date quickly, and provides the answers you need for everyday solutions.

I recently finished reading “Boost.Asio C++ Network Programming” written by John Torjo and published by Packt Publishing. Information given by the publisher:

Overview:

• Augment your C++ network programming using Boost.Asio
• Discover how Boost.Asio handles synchronous and asynchronous programming models
• Practical examples of client/server applications
• Learn how to deal with threading when writing network applications
• Harness the power of Boost with plenty of examples that you can build upon

What you will learn from this book:

• How to easily reference Boost.Asio programming
• Synchronous versus asynchronous using Boost.Asio
• How threading affects programming using Boost.Asio
• Create your own echo client and server
• More examples of client/server applications, both synchronous and asynchronous
• Implement your own asynchronous operations
• Co-routines: asynchronous operations with a synchronous feel
• Use Boost.Asio for SSL Networking
• Debug Boost.Asio
• Use Boost.Asio for more than just networking

I love the Boost libraries, and I’m interested in network programming, so I decided to read this book. The book has a hands-on approach with a couple of sample programs. What I like is that these sample programs have been structured in such a way so they can be reused for your own projects. They are like skeleton examples, and all source code can be downloaded from the book’s website.

The book does not cover any real networking theory. For example don’t expect an in-depth discussion of how the TCP, UDP, or ICMP protocols work; that’s not the goal of this book. The goal is to show, with practical examples, how to use the Boost.Asio networking library.

While reading chapter 1, my initial reaction to the contents was rather negative. Chapter 1 is a bit convoluted, not so easy to understand, and even has a couple of errors in it. However, subsequent chapters are structured more logically and are understandable, though sometimes a discussion accompanying a piece of code can be a bit brief.

As an introduction to the library, Chapter 3 shows a basic Echo client/server example which is quite good. There is a synchronous and asynchronous TCP implementation of the client and server, and also a synchronous UDP implementation of the client and server. Subsequent chapters implement more useful client/server applications.

The book is not your one-stop destination for everything related to the Boost.Asio library, but it’s a great introduction to get you started with the library, to get to know the terminology used in the library, to learn about the difference between synchronous and asynchronous programming, to learn how to use multi-threading using the Boost threading library, and to get nice skeleton applications that you can reuse in your own projects. Several skeleton applications are provided such as synchronous and asynchronous versions, and single-threaded and multi-threaded versions.

DeveloperFusion has posted an extract from my book “Professional C++, 2nd Edition”. The extract explains constructors in C++11.
You can read it here.
For more information about the book, source code, sample chapters, the book forum and other resources, go to the book’s homepage on wrox.com.

My book “Professional C++, Second Edition”, published by Wiley/Wrox, is now featured in a dedicated post on the Microsoft Visual C++ Team Blog 🙂
Read the VC++ Team Blog post here.

I just finished everything for my book “Professional C++, Second Edition” by Wiley/Wrox 🙂
I think it will go on sale maybe around October, I don’t know the exact date yet.
After a bit more than a year of work, it’s finished 😀
It was really a huge amount of work, but it was definitely worth it, and a very interesting experience.

Here is the official link.