Advanced C++ Programming

C++ is a powerful and complex language. This course covers advanced C++ language features and development techniques, to help you get the most out of the language. The course also provides thorough coverage of the C++ Standard Template Library (STL), and explains how to implement OO design patterns and C++ programming idioms to reinforce best practice in your code.

Duration

5 days

 

Prerequisites

  • 3-6 months C++ programming experience

What you'll learn

  • Using casting and conversion techniques
  • Overloading [], (), and ->
  • Defining template functions and template classes
  • Using STL iterators and algorithms
  • Managing resource acquisition and release
  • Utilizing OO patterns and C++ idioms effectively
  • Using advanced template techniques

Course details

Setting the Scene

  • Recap of C++ and OO features and techniques
  • ISO C++
  • Core language additions
  • Recap of the standard library

Copying and Conversions

  • staticcast, dynamiccast, constcast and reinterpretcast
  • The mutable keyword
  • The explicit keyword
  • User defined conversion operators
  • Copy construction and assignment

Scope and Related Patterns/Idioms

  • Recap of static class members
  • The Singleton pattern
  • Defining nested classes
  • The Handle/Body idiom
  • Using namespaces effectively

Using Delegation

  • Recap of association and delegation
  • The Object Adapter pattern
  • The Proxy pattern
  • The Null Object pattern
  • Defining smart pointers
  • Lazy loading

Overloading the subscript operator

  • How to overload []
  • Why to overload []
  • Creating multi-dimensional containers

Template Functions

  • Overview of template functions
  • Implementing generic algorithms using template functions

Template Classes

  • Overview of template classes
  • Specifying multiple type parameters
  • Using the standard container classes

Using Iterators and Algorithms

  • What is an iterator
  • Using standard iterators
  • Creating generic algorithms using iterators
  • Function objects

Exception Handling Techniques

  • Recap of exceptions
  • The standard exception class hierarchy
  • Uncaught exceptions
  • Strategies for handling exceptions
  • Exception safety

Effective Memory Management

  • Handling allocation failures
  • Overriding the new operator to customise memory allocation
  • Caching
  • Controlling timing of construction and destruction

Reference Counting Techniques

  • Defining classes that use shared representation objects
  • Reference-counted strings
  • Defining smart pointers for garbage collection

Inheritance Techniques

  • Defining interfaces
  • Multiple inheritance
  • Virtual base classes
  • Interface classes
  • Mixin classes
  • Runtime type information (RTTI)
  • Private and protected inheritance
  • The Class Adapter pattern

Advanced Template Techniques

  • Defining non-type template parameters
  • Defining template adapters
  • Specifying default template parameters
  • Specializing templates
  • Defining trait classes

Call-back Techniques

  • Implementing call-backs using function pointers
  • The Command pattern
  • Function objects
  • Member function pointers