C++ FAQ / Section 4 / FAQ 4.54

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Revised Jul 4, 2012

[4.54] What updates were made for the 08/96 release?

Global changes:

• Recently added/changed FAQs are now chained together using hyper-links (mainly for those who want to find out what has changed since the last time they read this document)
• Recently added FAQs are now decorated with New! ("recently" = "in the current or previous release")
• Recently changed FAQs are now decorated with Updated! ("recently" = "in the current or previous release")
• The look-and-feel of hyper-linked cross references is changed
  • The old look-and-feel "looks like this[4.54]"
  • The new look-and-feel "looks like this"
• Added section [12] Assignment operators
• Added section [28] Learning OO/C++

18 New FAQs:

• [4.54] What updates were made for the 08/96 release?
  (created)
• [7.3] When is an interface "good"?
  (created)
• [7.4] What is encapsulation?
  (created)
• [7.5] How does C++ help with the tradeoff of safety vs. usability?
  (created)
• [9.4] How can inline functions help with the tradeoff of safety vs. speed?
  (created)
• [12.1] What is "self assignment"?
  (created)
• [12.2] Why should I worry about "self assignment"?
  (created)
• [12.3] OK, OK, already; I'll handle self-assignment. How do I do it?
  (created)
• [13.3] What are some examples of operator overloading?
  (created)
• [15.16] Why can't I open a file in a different directory such as "..\test.dat"?
  (created)
• [28.1] What is mentoring?
  (created)
• [28.2] Should I learn C before I learn OO/C++?
  (created)
• [28.3] Should I learn Smalltalk before I learn OO/C++?
  (created)
• [28.4] Should I buy one book, or several?
  (created)
• [28.5] What are some best-of-breed C++ morality guides?
  (created)
• [28.6] What are some best-of-breed C++ legality guides?
  (created)
• [28.8] Are there other OO books that are relevant to OO/C++?
  (created)
• [38.5] Where can I get information about the C++ compiler from {Borland, IBM, Microsoft, Sun, etc.}?
  (created)

12 Changed FAQs:

• [6.5] Is C++ better than Ada? (or Visual Basic, C, FORTRAN, Pascal, Smalltalk, or any other language?)
  (reworded the last paragraph)
• [6.7] How long does it take to learn OO/C++?
  (added management-level hints for training developers in OO/C++)
• [9.5] Why should I use inline functions instead of plain old #define macros?
  (moved)
• [13.4] But operator overloading makes my class look ugly; isn't it supposed to make my code clearer?
  (rewritten)
• [13.10] How do I create a subscript operator for a Matrix class?
  (fixed a bug: "double** data_" is now "double* data_")
• [27.10] Are there any lint-like guidelines for C++?
  (added links to the self assignment discussion)
• [28.6] What are some best-of-breed C++ legality guides?
  (fixed the ISBN for Stan Lippman's book)
• [30.1] What's the difference between C++ and Smalltalk?
  (rewritten)
• [37.5] How can you tell if you have a dynamically typed C++ class library?
  (moved from the section on Smalltalk)
• [37.6] What is the NIHCL? Where can I get it?
  (moved from the section on Smalltalk)
• [37.9] Where can I get tons and tons of more information on C++ class libraries?
  (updated the URL)
• [39.7] Why can't the compiler find my header file in #include "c:\test.h" ?
  (updated to refer to [15.16])