C++ FAQ / Section 4 / FAQ 4.39

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Revised Jul 4, 2012

[4.39] What updates were made for the 03/02 release?

Global changes:

• Changed the HTML "anchor" scheme so it conforms to the standard. Thanks to Eric Anderson for pointing this out.

4 New FAQs:

• [4.39] What updates were made for the 03/02 release?
  (created)
• [6.14] What are some "interview questions" I could ask that would let me know if candidates really know their stuff?
  (created thanks to inspiration from Shawn Panosian)
• [35.12] Why can't I separate the definition of my templates class from its declaration and put it inside a .cpp file?
  (created thanks to Assaf Lavie)
• [40.1] How can I generate HTML documentation for my classes? Does C++ have anything similar to javadoc?
  (created thanks to Joe Linoff)

27 Changed FAQs:

• [3.1] Is there a C++ FAQ Book in addition to this on-line C++ FAQ?
  (changed the URL for book excerpts thanks to Chris Young)
• [5.1] What does IMHO mean? (or IMO, IMNSHO, FWIW, OTOH, etc.)?
  (added OO)
• [6.11] Is C++ backward compatible with ANSI/ISO C?
  (clarified the relationship between f() in C and f(...) in C++ thanks to Stefan Farfeleder)
• [6.13] Where can I get a copy of the ANSI/ISO C++ standard?
  (swapped some mixed up links thanks to Randal Leistikow)
• [8.8] What is a handle to an object? Is it a pointer? Is it a reference? Is it a pointer-to-a-pointer? What is it?
  (changed pointers-to-references into references-to-pointers thanks to Scott Douglass)
• [13.1] What's the deal with operator overloading?
  (added comment about templates and intrinsic types thanks to Phil Hibbs)
• [15.1] Why should I use <iostream> instead of the traditional <cstdio>?
  (corrected grammar of first bullet ("better type safety" ==> "more type-safe") thanks to Tristan Miller)
• [15.16] Why can't I open a file in a different directory such as "..\test.dat"?
  (added an explanation as to why "/" is better than "\\" thanks to Chris Young)
• [16.3] Can I free() pointers allocated with new? Can I delete pointers allocated with malloc()?
  (strengthened)
• [18.13] What do I do if I want a const member function to make an "invisible" change to a data member?
  (added a caveat about this being a Set const* const thanks to Steve White)
• [20.6] I have a heterogeneous list of objects, and my code needs to do class-specific things to the objects. Seems like this ought to use dynamic binding but can't figure it out. What should I do?
  (fixed typo in a typedef thanks to Salminen Kari; plus various clarifications throughout)
• [20.8] What is a "virtual constructor"?
  (added parenthetical recommendation about slicing thanks to Jesse Jones)
• [21.2] Converting Derived* → Base* works OK; why doesn't Derived** → Base** work?
  (added a paragraph near the end about using a pointer cast thanks to Steve White)
• [21.6] Is a Circle a kind-of an Ellipse?
  (reworded)
• [21.7] Are there other options to the "Circle is/isnot kind-of Ellipse" dilemma?
  (added words allowing Circle to be a state of Ellipse rather than a class in itself thanks to Nicholas Leippe)
• [21.8] But I have a Ph.D. in Mathematics, and I'm sure a Circle is a kind of an Ellipse! Does this mean Marshall Cline is stupid? Or that C++ is stupid? Or that OO is stupid?
  (softened things up in two spots (thanks to Salminen Kari and Nicholas Leippe) and made it even more in-your-face in other spots (blame the author for this second set of changes — I'm the meanie))
• [27.8] What source-file-name convention is best? foo.cpp? foo.C? foo.cc?
  (rewrote/wordsmithed thanks to Michael Tiller)
• [27.13] Are there any other sources of coding standards?
  (removed a dead link thanks to Phil Hibbs)
• [28.7] What are some best-of-breed C++ programming-by-example guides?
  (added Musser's STL book thanks to Xavier Outhier from D2SET scientific and technology non profit association)
• [29.17] Why doesn't my floating-point comparison work?
  (added new book references thanks to Alan McKenney)
• [37.2] Where can I get a copy of "STL"?
  (removed dead link to Musser's STL site thanks to Xavier Outhier from D2SET scientific and technology non profit association)
• [37.4] Where can I get help on how to use STL?
  (removed dead link to Musser's STL site thanks to Xavier Outhier from D2SET scientific and technology non profit association; added link to book section)
• [37.9] Where can I get tons and tons of more information on C++ class libraries?
  (added the URL to www.mathtools.net/C_C__/ thanks to Ophir Herbst; also added the boost.org URL)
• [38.1] Where can I download a free C++ compiler?
  (added Digital Mars to the list (thanks Walter!))
• [38.4] How can I decompile an executable program back into C++ source code?
  (added caveat at the end re legitimate reasons to decompile)
• [38.5] Where can I get information about the C++ compiler from {Borland, IBM, Microsoft, Sun, etc.}?
  (removed Symantec C++ since Symantec's web site says it is "discontinued," thanks to Richard Gill; added an annotation that the Digital Mars compiler is free, thanks to Walter Bright; and added the URL to the Cygwin-compiled version of GCC, thanks to Wouter Demuynck)
• [40.3] Are there any pretty-printers that reformat C++ source code?
  (added "Source Styler for C++" thanks to Alison Boyce)