The might, wisdom and wit of Scott Meyers
Written: Aug 08 '01 (Updated Aug 08 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great advice, concrete examples, light and accurate writing style
Cons: It isn't what I would call a page turner, sometimes a bit basic
The Bottom Line: For beginning programmers, this book is a must read. If you have some experience, it is still a good read, but most likely not as applicable.
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| Tibullus's Full Review: |
There are certain books out there that are authoritative on certain subjects. Every subject has their "bible" which not only defines the subject, but also tends to provide the most and best information on the subject. Other books may end up coming along which end up covering specific examples better than the original book, but rarely does a book come along which ends up supplanting the original in its revered position. Even if it is supplanted, the original book is often looked at as essential as it will still have certain points that it covers better than anyone.
Well, honestly, this book isn't a bible. It isn't the be all and end all of C++ programming books, but then again, it doesn't try to be, even in the introduction to the book, it doesn't make claims of this sort. You must be asking yourself at this point, "Why would he start out talking about all of this stuff if this isn't the bible of c++?".
I'm glad you asked...
You see, the bible for this language was already written, and its pretty much an unreadable tome which is great for sitting on the upper shelf of one's collection, and every development team should probably have one copy, much like there has to be that tome that sits around in the ancient temples that everyone consults for the final say, but that's about it.
What is this book about?
Subtitled: Let's get on with the real part of this review already
Effective C++ is a collection of 50 succinct and very helpful tips that will help one with his/her C++ coding skills. Don't run around thinking that if you buy this book, read it and follow the conventions within it, you will instantly be transported to the top of the game as far as C++ coders go, because it won't do that. The only thing it will do is stop you from making some really dumb mistakes early in the coding game that will save you a large amount of time later, and generally make your life much happier in general, thus promoting world peace and eventually (if you follow this line of reasoning) I believe it will actually save the whales.
These tips range greatly in complexity. Perhaps the easiest one to pass along is Prefer C++ style comments to C style comments. His rational for this one is rather subjective, he just thinks it makes life easier when trying to comment out larger blocks of code for testing and the like if you use c++ style comments in your code (so you don't have to mess with the nested comments).
This is not to say that all of his tips are along this easy manner. Some of them get much more complex and are not quite as subjective, such as Item 32: Postpone variable definitions as long as possible which states that you should wait to define those variables as long as possible so you don't take the performance hit until you absolutely have to.
These two tips are actually rather basic when it comes down to it, however they can get rather complex. Meyers goes into a quite large discussion on Multiple Inheritance that I don't even want to being encapsulating in this review, however it provides some very good background into that design pattern and should not be missed.
However, for the sake of those out there reading this who don't really know what I'm talking about, I will move on.
The Author and his Writing...
Tell me more about this light and helpful writing style
Personally, after reading this book, i think that Scott Meyers is not only a veritable member of the C++ pantheon (or at least he is in consideration), he is one of the most entertaining writers out there. Not only does he understand the problems of the programmer from the actual programming prospective, but he is also a teacher. He spent a good number of years teaching programming and giving out tips to help beginning programmers along. Thus Effective C++ was born from the head of Meyers, pulling itself from his still living head much like Minerva pulled herself from the skull of Zeus in Greek Mythology.
Thus, as Minerva would be the goddess of wisdom so is this book. Meyers took what he learned from teaching his classes and applied it to a book. He was aware of the problems that new programmers (and those who have not yet learned better) often face and was able to help them out and improve their code greatly by simply having them code just a little bit differently than they were used to. Thus were born the 50 tips that Meyers gives, throw in a little book deal and you a book which I would consider nigh essential for every C++ programmer out there.
Its not just the technical information that makes this book so beautiful, its the writing style the Meyers employs. As he is a coder, he understands what the coders need. However, it is through his doses of humor and other such things (that I assume he picked up not only from a natural sense of humor -- something which most authors lack -- but also from keeping students interested in what he is saying) that he keeps the reader from dozing off while reading about the different implications of assignment statements and other such fun and frivolous things as that.
Why I liked this book
Scott Meyers should be revered among the best technical writers out there for both his knowledge and writing ability.
I liked this book because it was very simple. It was simple in many different ways. The hints and solutions that it proposes are very simple, you will get some in depth compiler talk, but not much deeper than that (mostly to do with what the compiler does with constructors and the like).
The manner in which the material is presented is very simple. There are 50 points that Meyers brings forth, which have a title telling you what and what not to do, and then an explanation (which can go on for a little while), this provides for easy research in the future when you perhaps have forgotten some of the good advice that was given to you.
Finally, the language is simple. Meyers doesn't feel a need to write in a very dense and verbose prose which makes him seem smarter. Rather, the material is presented in a rather light and humorous manner (well, it can't all be humor, but some of it is), that keeps the reader fairly entertained (we're not talking about a real novel here, but in comparison to many computer books, this is one of the more entertaining out there) and makes the reading a bit more enjoyable than it would have otherwise been.
Parting Thoughts...
Since brevity is the soul of whit, it is obvious that I have none.
Now that I've rambled on quite a bit about this book, you can tell that I rather like it. For the novice programmer, this book is a must since it isn't too in depth, but still gives a massive amount of helpful information to the reader. It also avoids getting jargon heavy for the beginner since he/she may not be quite ready for that sort of verbose and dense prose.
For someone who already has quite a bit of experience, this book is still rather applicable. They are more likely to go through the book and say, "Duh... I knew that" than the beginner is, but then again, that's what you expect for the most part anyway. My guess is that even the more experienced programmer will learn at least a little bit from this book, though there are always exceptions to this rule.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Tibullus
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Member: Marc Chapman
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Reviews written: 69
Trusted by: 76 members
About Me:
Sometimes I like to look up and smile for the satellite pictures.
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