Appropriate for beginning to intermediate courses on C++ programming with the Standard Template Library (STL).

In this book, programming author Steve Heller teaches C++ programming with the Standard Template Library from the ground up, using real example code that has been carefully tested with novice programmers and refined to ensure its clarity and value. Heller demystifies both C++ and STL, focusing on the concepts and techniques that will help new C++ programmers write effective real-world programs as rapidly as possible. C++: A Dialog presents concepts in the form of a friendly conversation between an expert and a beginner, with Heller explicitly guiding students past the obstacles that typically cause them the most problems. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a commercial-grade version of Borlands powerful C++ compiler, which can run all the programs presented in the book—and any other C++/STL program students choose to write.

Table of Contents

List of Figures.
Foreword.
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
Letter from a Novice.
1. Introduction to Programming.
2. Hardware Fundamentals.
3. Basics of Programming.
4. More Basics.
5. Functional Literacy.
6. Taking Inventory.
7. Creating a homegrown string class.
8. Finishing our homegrown string class.
9. Inheritance.
10. Polymorphism.
11. The Home Inventory Project.
12. More on the Home Inventory Project.
13. Analyzing the Home Inventory Project.
Appendix A. Tying up Loose Ends.
Appendix B. Glossary.
About the Author.
Bibliography.
Index.