The C++ Programming Language
(Third Edition and Special Edition)

Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-88954-4 and 0-201-70073-5.

Modified May 15, 2013

The 3rd and "special" editions have been superceded by The Fourth Edition. For language and standard library issues, I strongly recommend TC++PL4 over TC++PL3. However, the chapters on design and software issues in TC++PL3 have been left out of TC++PL4 to keep the page count more manageable.

The "special edition" is the hardcover version of the 3rd edition. It differs from the early printings of the 3rd edition by about 1,000 corrections and clarifications, by two new appendices (just over 100 pages; also available online, see below), and by an improved index. The only difference between the current printings of the special edition and the 3rd edition is the cover (and the price difference implied by that stronger cover). See also my FAQ.

Here is

• the preface
• the preface to the second edition
• the preface to the first edition
• the Table of Contents (and an Expanded Table of Contents that is not part of the printed book)
• the introductory chapters
  • Notes to the Reader incl. a discussion of the philosophy behind C++ and a brief history of C++
  • A Tour of C++ presenting the basic programming techniques supported by C++ and the language features through wich C++ supports them
  • A Tour of the Standard Library presenting a few basic uses of C++ introducing its standard library; for most people this chapter gives a better view of C++ than does "A Tour of C++" and
• Appendix B: Compatibility discussing compatibility with C and earlier versions of C++
• Appendix D: Locales presenting C++'s facilities for internationalization
• Appendix E: Standard-Library Exception Safety introducing the fundamental concepts of exception safety and presenting techniques for using exceptions well illustrated by the guarantees offered by the standard library
• some errata
• a few simple code examples
• a C++ glossary with references to sections of TC++PL.

For solutions to selected exercises see David Vandevoorde: C++ Solutions Addison-Wesley Longman ISBN 0-201-30965-3. Reviews and code can be found at David's site.

Some of my interviews answer questions about my books.

For translations, see my publication list and my cover gallery.

Written by Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++, this is the world's most trusted and widely read book on C++.

For this special hardcover edition, two new appendices on locales and standard library exception safety have been added. The result is complete, authoritative coverage of the C++ language, its standard library, and key design techniques. Basd on the ANSI/ISO C++ standard, The C++ Programming Language provides current and comprehensive coverage of all C++ language features and standard library components.

For example:

• abstract classes as interfaces
• class hierarchies for object-oriented programming
• templates as the basis for type safe generic software
• exceptions for regular error handling
• namespaces for modularity in large-scale software
• run-time type identification for loosely-coupled systems
• the C subset of C++ for C compatibility and systems-level work
• standard containers and algorithms
• standard strings, I/O streams, and numerics

A web page to support the book can be found at http://www.aw.com/csen

Bjarne Stroustrup is the designer and original implementor of C++ and the author of The C++ Programming Language ( first edition 1985, second edition 1991 ), The Annotated C++ Reference Manual, and The Design and Evolution of C++. A graduate of the University of Aarhus, Denmark, and Cambridge University, England, Dr. Stroustrup is currently the head of AT&T Labs' Large-scale Programming Research Department, an AT&T Fellow, an AT&T Bell Laboratories Fellow, and an ACM Fellow. His research interests include distributed systems, operating systems, simulation, and programming. He is editor of Addison-Wesley's C++ In-Depth Series.

Unlike those annoying volumes whose pages are filled with screendumps, this is full of real information. Bjarne has done a splendid job in this total rewrite of his important work.

Do not be deceived, this is a new book reusing an old title. It took three years to write and was critiqued by 12 technical reviewers and the author took every one of their comments seriously. That is what it takes to write a good programming book (and even so some errors got missed). ... I will go out on a limb and declare that if you have not read this book at least once during the next twelve months you are not a C++ programmer whatever you may think. As always, you will only get full benefit from your reading by thinking about what you read.

• Angelika Langer and Klaus Kreft for DevX May 2000.
• Francis Glassborow for ACCU in May 2000.
• Al Stevens in Dr. Dobb's Journal.
• The German-language Monitor magazine.