more-effective-c++.md

More Effective C++ CheatSheet

Basics

• Item 1: Distinguish between pointers and references
• Item 2: Prefer C++-style casts
• Item 3: Never treat arrays polymorphically
• Item 4: Avoid gratuitous default constructors

Operators

• Item 5: Be wary of user-defined conversion functions
• Item 6: Distinguish between prefix and postfix forms of increment and decrement operators
• Item 7: Never overload &&, ||, or ,
• Item 8: Understand the different meanings of newand delete

Exceptions

• Item 9: Use destructors to prevent resource leaks
• Item 10: Prevent resource leaks in constructors
• Item 11: Prevent exceptions from leaving destructors
• Item 12: Understand how throwing an exception differs from passing a parameter or calling a virtual function
• Item 13: Catch exceptions by reference
• Item 14: Use exception specifications judiciously
• Item 15: Understand the costs of exception handling

Efficiency

• Item 16: Remember the 80-20 rule
• Item 17: Consider using lazyevaluation
• Item 18: Amortize the cost of expected computations
• Item 19: Understand the origin of temporary objects
• Item 20: Facilitate the return value optimization
• Item 21: Overload to avoid implicit type conversions
• Item 22: Consider using op=instead of stand-alone op
• Item 23: Consider alternative libraries
• Item 24: Understand the costs of virtual functions, multiple inheritance, virtual base classes, and RTTI

Techniques

• Item 25: Virtualizing constructors and non-member functions
• Item 26: Limiting the number of objects of a class
• Item 27: Requiring or prohibiting heap-based objects
• Item 28: Smart pointers
• Item 29: Reference counting
• Item 30: Proxy classes
• Item 31: Making functions virtual with respect to more than one object

Miscellany

• Item 32: Program in the future tense
• Item 33: Make non-leaf classes abstract
• Item 34: Understand how to combine C++ and C in the same program
• Item 35: Familiarize yourself with the language standard