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The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

scottmeyers.blogspot.com

11–20 of 152 posts

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#11
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you putting Stroutrup in the I'm suspicious of his advice category or the He teaches from experience category?

It would seem from the context of his statement the latter, especially given that he built C++

It could also go the "ivory tower" direction

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#12
post #5

Is this guy actually writing C++ programs in the wild? He often presents himself as an apostle in the C++ church, but, I am always surprised that he does not seem to apply his guidelines into any practical project of his. As a programmer, I'm suspicious when people have opinions and give advice but never showed me more than snippets of code. Like a master tailor that wouldn't sew. How come he gets that much recogniti…

His webpage: http://www.aristeia.com/ indicates that he has been a programmer since 1972. Even if he has been doing training/consulting for a couple of decades, that leaves a lot of time to get the basics down. I've never met him, though I have browsed one of his books once.

My own personal feeling is that books like these can be invaluable for people starting out in the industry. It gives you a reference point to relate to. If he can explain things well and people can understand his writing, then it can be useful even if the person isn't the best living coder on earth.

At some point in your development, you need to branch out from what people are saying in books and start to form your own opinions. You have to start questioning what the "experts" are saying and try to experiment with other techniques. It is frustrating when people hang on to certain ideas just because a famous author said it. Sometimes it holds us back. It doesn't make their contribution any less valuable, though, because at least newbies are getting to a certain level due to the well written books.

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#13
post #5

Is this guy actually writing C++ programs in the wild? He often presents himself as an apostle in the C++ church, but, I am always surprised that he does not seem to apply his guidelines into any practical project of his. As a programmer, I'm suspicious when people have opinions and give advice but never showed me more than snippets of code. Like a master tailor that wouldn't sew. How come he gets that much recogniti…

His webpage: http://www.aristeia.com/ indicates that he has been a programmer since 1972. Even if he has been doing training/consulting for a couple of decades, that leaves a lot of time to get the basics down. I've never met him, though I have browsed one of his books once. My own personal feeling is that books like these can be invaluable for people starting out in the industry. It gives you a reference point to re…

> It is frustrating when people hang on to certain ideas just because a famous author said it. Sometimes it holds us back.

What I appreciate is that most of what he says (via GotW or the books) comes with the rationale and a code snippet instead of a blind assertion that this is The True Way.

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#14
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you putting Stroutrup in the I'm suspicious of his advice category or the He teaches from experience category?

It would seem from the context of his statement the latter, especially given that he built C++

Creating C++ means you're likely to know the ins and outs of the language. That's a necessary condition to being a good C++ programmer, but it's not sufficient. It's not at all obvious to me that Stroustrup would be a good C++ programmer or even a good C programmer.

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#15
post #5

Is this guy actually writing C++ programs in the wild? He often presents himself as an apostle in the C++ church, but, I am always surprised that he does not seem to apply his guidelines into any practical project of his. As a programmer, I'm suspicious when people have opinions and give advice but never showed me more than snippets of code. Like a master tailor that wouldn't sew. How come he gets that much recogniti…

His webpage: http://www.aristeia.com/ indicates that he has been a programmer since 1972. Even if he has been doing training/consulting for a couple of decades, that leaves a lot of time to get the basics down. I've never met him, though I have browsed one of his books once. My own personal feeling is that books like these can be invaluable for people starting out in the industry. It gives you a reference point to re…

You should still read them though. But instead of reading them like an instruction manual, you should read them for an eye towards when you would disagree with them, when you wouldn't, and why.

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#16
post #5

Is this guy actually writing C++ programs in the wild? He often presents himself as an apostle in the C++ church, but, I am always surprised that he does not seem to apply his guidelines into any practical project of his. As a programmer, I'm suspicious when people have opinions and give advice but never showed me more than snippets of code. Like a master tailor that wouldn't sew. How come he gets that much recogniti…

His books are well-researched, that is for sure. However, you cannot use his ideas as gospel. He will try to teach the most conservative way of using C++, not the best for your purposes. I particularly think that there are several areas of C++, such as exceptions and constness that should better be avoided if possible. But each one has a different way to use the language.

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#17

All of his books are great - especially the one on STL. Herb Sutter wrote some great C++ books also. On a side note, based on that picture of him sitting at this desk, he is still using iPod V1

> he is still using iPod V1

Are you sure? I see some color contrast between the center button and the wheel, and no ring of buttons around it.

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#18
post #5

Is this guy actually writing C++ programs in the wild? He often presents himself as an apostle in the C++ church, but, I am always surprised that he does not seem to apply his guidelines into any practical project of his. As a programmer, I'm suspicious when people have opinions and give advice but never showed me more than snippets of code. Like a master tailor that wouldn't sew. How come he gets that much recogniti…

His books are well-researched, that is for sure. However, you cannot use his ideas as gospel. He will try to teach the most conservative way of using C++, not the best for your purposes. I particularly think that there are several areas of C++, such as exceptions and constness that should better be avoided if possible. But each one has a different way to use the language.

I could understand why some people like to avoid exceptions. But constness? Really?

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#19

I wonder how long it took Kernighan and Ritchie to write 'The C Programming Language'? Amazon says the 2nd edition (1988) is 272 pages long but looking back, it felt like it was 80 pages :) Going by the OP's math (of the language creator being twice as productive) prolly 4 months?

Remember that that's inluding like 60 pages of what are basically printed man pages.

Re: The Time Needed to Write “Effective Modern C++”

#20
With the amount of time invested into writing the book it would be interesting to see what type of financial return he was able to get for it. Certainly I would hope he was able to make as much as if he were working in private industry for the same amount of time. (though somehow I doubt this is the case)
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