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Programming in C++

Purpose

This guide rapidly converts your existing expertise in managed languages (like C#/Java) into a deep, production-ready understanding of Modern C++. We focus on the zero-overhead principle, the memory model, and RAII to enable you to design and build efficient, robust, and high-performance systems.

Target Audience

Tailored for experienced software engineers proficient in OOP and generic programming from languages with Garbage Collection (C#, Java). You seek unparalleled control and performance and are ready for a pedagogical deep dive into the “why” and trade-offs unique to C++.

Structure

Part I:: The C++ Ecosystem and Foundation: This section establishes the philosophical and technical underpinnings of C++, focusing on compilation, linking, and the modern modularization system.
Part II: Core Constructs, Classes, and Basic I/O: Here, we cover the essential C++ syntax, focusing on differences in data types, scoping, const correctness, and the function of lvalue references.
Part III: The C++ Memory Model and Resource Management: The most critical section, which deeply explores raw pointers, value categories, move semantics, and the indispensable role of smart pointers and the RAII idiom.
Part IV: Classical OOP, Safety, and Type Manipulation: This part addresses familiar object-oriented concepts like inheritance and polymorphism, emphasizing C++’s rules for exception safety and type-safe casting.
Part V: Genericity, Modern Idioms, and The Standard Library: Finally, we explore the advanced capabilities of templates, C++20 Concepts, lambda expressions, and the power of the Standard Library containers and Ranges for highly generic and expressive code.
Appendix: Supplementary materials including coding style guidelines, compiler flags, and further reading.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing this guide, you will be able to:

Master Memory: Confidently use RAII and smart pointers (std::unique_ptr, std::shared_ptr) for stack/heap management.
Maximize Performance: Implement Move Semantics to eliminate unnecessary deep copies.
Enforce Safety: Utilize const correctness and C++ casting operators for strong, compiler-checked type safety.
Use Modern C++: Write clean, robust C++ using Concepts, Ranges, and advanced lambdas (C++17/C++20 features).
Employ the STL: Effectively utilize Standard Library containers and algorithms.
Understand Compilation: Explain the full translation process and use C++ Modules for scalable code.

Part I: The C++ Ecosystem and Foundation

1. Welcome to Modern C++

1.1 History, Philosophy, and The Zero-Overhead Principle
1.2 C++ Standards (C++17, C++20, C++23): What’s Modern?
1.3 Key Use Cases and Advantages/Disadvantages
1.4 Setting up the Environment and Toolchains

2. Compilation, Linking, and Modularization

2.1 The Phases of Translation: Preprocessing, Compiling, Linking
2.2 Modules: Declaring, Exporting, and Importing Units
2.3 The Legacy Preprocessor: Directives and Conditional Compilation

Part II: Core Constructs, Classes, and Basic I/O

3. Data Types and Control Flow

3.1 Built-in Types, Initialization, and Type Inference (auto)
3.2 Operators, Expressions, and Type Promotion
3.3 Scoping, Lifetimes (Automatic, Static), and Storage Duration
3.4 Control Structures (if, switch, loops)

4. Functions, `const` Correctness, and Basic References

4.1 Function Overloading and Signature Matching
4.2 Parameter Passing: By Value and the Cost of Copying
4.3 const Correctness: Variables, Parameters, and Member Functions
4.4 Lvalue References (Aliases) and Passing by Reference
4.5 Basic Console I/O (std::cin, std::cout)

5. Classes, Objects, and Data Abstraction

5.1 Defining a Class (Data and Member Functions)
5.2 Access Specifiers (public, private, protected)
5.3 Introducing Constructors and Destructors
5.4 Aggregate Initialization and Designated Initializers (C++20)

Part III: The C++ Memory Model and Resource Management (RAII)

6. Raw Pointers and Dynamic Allocation

6.1 The Stack vs. The Heap vs. The Data Segment
6.2 Raw Pointers: Declaration, Dereferencing, and the Null State
6.3 Manual Allocation and Deallocation (new and delete)
6.4 Dangers: Memory Leaks, Double Deletion, and Dangling Pointers
6.5 C-style Arrays, Pointer Arithmetic, and Decaying

7. Value Categories and References Deep Dive

7.1 Lvalues, Rvalues, and Prvalues: Defining Object Identity
7.2 The Need for Rvalue References
7.3 Reference Collapsing and Forwarding References
7.4 The std::move Utility (A Cast, Not a Move)
7.5 The std::forward Utility

8. Move Semantics and State Control

8.1 Deep vs. Shallow Copy Review
8.2 The Copy Constructor and Copy Assignment Operator
8.3 The Move Constructor and Move Assignment Operator
8.4 Compiler-Generated Defaults and Explicit Deletion (= default, = delete)
8.5 The Rule of Zero/Three/Five: Modern Class Design

9. Smart Pointers and RAII

9.1 The RAII Principle: Resource Acquisition Is Initialization
9.2 std::unique_ptr: Exclusive, Transferable Ownership
9.3 std::make_unique vs. new unique_ptr
9.4 std::shared_ptr: Shared Ownership and Reference Counting
9.5 std::make_shared for Performance and Safety
9.6 std::weak_ptr: Observer Pointers and Breaking Circular References

Part IV: Classical OOP, Safety, and Type Manipulation

10. Error Handling and Exceptions

10.1 Throwing and Catching Exceptions
10.2 Creating Custom Exception Classes
10.3 Exception Safety Guarantees (Strong, Basic, Nothrow)
10.4 The Role of noexcept and noexcept(foo)

11. Inheritance and Polymorphism

11.1 Public, Protected, and Private Inheritance
11.2 Virtual Methods and Dynamic Dispatch
11.3 Abstract Base Classes and Pure Virtual Functions (Interfaces)
11.4 The override and final Specifiers
11.5 Virtual Destructors and Deleting Polymorphic Objects
11.6 Virtual Inheritance (The Diamond Problem Solution)

12. Type Conversions and Explicit Constructors

12.1 Implicit Type Conversions (Promotion and Conversion)
12.2 User-Defined Conversion Operators
12.3 Preventing Conversions with the explicit Keyword
12.4 Uniform Initialization and std::initializer_list

13. Casting Operators and RTTI

13.1 C-Style Casts: Why They Are Dangerous
13.2 static_cast: Compile-Time Conversions
13.3 dynamic_cast: Run-Time Polymorphic Checking
13.4 const_cast and reinterpret_cast: High-Risk Operations
13.5 Run-Time Type Information (RTTI) and typeid

Part V: Genericity, Modern Idioms, and The Standard Library

14. Modern Language Constructs and Idioms

14.1 Lambda Expressions (Basic Syntax and Captures)
14.2 Lambda Return Types, Generic Lambdas (C++14), and constexpr Lambdas (C++17/20)
14.3 Structured Bindings and Deconstruction (C++17)
14.4 Compile-Time Programming with constexpr
14.5 if constexpr and Template Compilation Decisions

15. Introduction to Templates and Concepts

15.1 Function Templates and Template Argument Deduction
15.2 Class Templates and Template Parameters
15.3 Template Specialization and Partial Specialization
15.4 Concepts (C++20): Constraining Template Parameters
15.5 The requires Keyword and Requires Clauses

16. Algebraic Data Types for Robustness

16.1 std::optional: Handling the Absence of a Value
16.2 std::variant: Type-Safe Unions and std::visit
16.3 std::any: Type-Safe Polymorphic Value Container
16.4 Using ADTs for Modern Error Handling (vs. Exceptions)

17. Standard Containers and Iterators

17.1 Contiguous Containers: std::vector (The Workhorse), std::array
17.2 Sequence Containers: std::list, std::deque
17.3 Associative Containers: std::map, std::set (Ordered)
17.4 Unordered Containers: std::unordered_map, std::unordered_set
17.5 Iterators: Concepts, Categories, and Range-based Operations

18. The Standard Algorithms Library and Ranges (C++20)

18.1 The Power of <algorithm> and <numeric>
18.2 Common Algorithms: Search, Sort, Transform, Accumulate
18.3 Using Lambdas and Function Objects with Algorithms
18.4 Introduction to Ranges (C++20): Views and Adaptors
18.5 The Pipelining of Algorithms

19. Introduction to Concurrency

19.1 The C++ Memory Model and Data Rac
19.2 The std::thread Basics
19.3 Synchronization Primitives: std::mutex and Locks
19.4 The std::future and std::promise for Asynchronous Results
19.5 Using Concurrency with RAII: std::lock_guard and std::unique_lock

Appendix

A.1 Coding Style Guidelines (e.g., Google, LLVM)
A.2 Common Compiler Flags and Their Uses
A.3 Effective Use of Compiler Warnings (-Wall, -Wextra)
A.4 Recommended Books and Online Courses