Basic C++ Idioms / Techniques

Question

Note: marked as community wiki.

In recent days, I\'ve realized how little I know about C++.

Besides:

• using the STL
• implementing RAII

Answer 1

I think this should cover it:

More C++ Idioms - Wikibooks

Answer 2

Basic:

• RTTI
• Virtual functions
• shared_ptr etc
• Templates
• Virtual inheriting
• Variadic macros

Also useful:

• Attributes (it depends on your compiler)
• Variadic templates
• Variadic functions
• Constexpr (sorting in compile time / calculating hash of strings etc... but the latter is related to the last section)
• Lambdas

Useful for brainfucking or in special cases:

• CRTP
• SFINAE
• inable_if (type traits)
• Foreach macro
• User-defined literals

Answer 3

The way I used to improve my c++ is reading the source code of leveldb. Because leveldb is a product level code. So you can learn the cpp idiom and design pattern from a real product. Let me show you some example

Leveldb use the Pimpl idiom, almost in all of it's head file, such table.h table_build.h write_batch.h. You can learn from the code directly

Leveldb use many OO design pattern, such as build pattern, the table have the table_build class to build the table, the block have the block_build class to build the block

Leveldb also use the Iterator pattern, the iterator make us use leveldb more convenient.

So I think leveldb contain many idiom or design pattern that c++ engineer should know.

Answer 4

The first two are 'must know' for a good C++ programmer. 'Good C++ programmers' do not overload operators for fun.

Answer 5

• OO Design
• Types of exception safety guarantees (which is what most design patterns/idioms are based on).
• When to use which standard containers
• Boost

Answer 6

(hardly a must-know, but still useful) Writing domain-specific languages with operator overloading and template metaprogramming (see Boost.Spirit for a nice example) - but this is the kind of thing that makes shooting yourself in the foot easy, too.