C++ Demystified(c) A Self-Teaching Guide

Jeff Kent

McGraw-Hill /Osborne

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Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of publisher, with the exception that the program listings may be entered, stored, and executed in a computer system, but they may not be reproduced for publication.

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ISBN 0-07-225370-3

Publisher Brandon A. Nordin

Vice President & Associate Publisher Scott Rogers

Editorial Director Wendy Rinaldi

Project Editor Lisa Wolters-Broder

Acquisitions Coordinator Athena Honore

Technical Editor Jim Keogh

Copy Editor Mike McGee

Proofreader Susie Elkind

Indexer Irv Hershman

Composition Apollo Publishing Services, Lucie Ericksen

Illustrators Kathleen Edwards, Melinda Lytle

Cover Series Design Margaret Webster-Shapiro

Cover Illustration Lance Lekander

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About the Author

Jeff Kent is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Los Angeles Valley College in Valley Glen, California. He teaches a number of programming languages, including Visual Basic, C++, Java and, when he s feeling masochistic, Assembler, but mostly he teaches C++. He also manages a network for a Los Angeles law firm whose employees are guinea pigs for his applications, and as an attorney gives advice to young attorneys whether they want it or not. He also has written several books on computer programming, including the recent Visual Basic.NET A Beginner s Guide for McGraw-Hill/Osborne.

Jeff has had a varied career ”or careers. He graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics, then obtained a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola (Los Angeles) School of Law, and went on to practice law. During this time, when personal computers still were a gleam in Bill Gates s eye, Jeff was also a professional chess master, earning a third-place finish in the United States Under-21 Championship and, later, an international title.

Jeff does find time to spend with his wife, Devvie, which is not difficult since she also is a computer science professor at Valley College. He also acts as personal chauffeur for his teenaged daughter, Emily (his older daughter , Elise, now has her own driver s license) and in his remaining spare time enjoys watching international chess tournaments on the Internet. His goal is to resume running marathons, since otherwise , given his losing battle to lose weight, his next book may be Sumo Wrestling Demystified .

I would like to dedicate this book to my wife, Devvie Schneider Kent. There is not room here to describe how she has helped me in my personal and professional life, though I do mention several ways in the Acknowledgments. She also has been my computer programming teacher in more ways than one; I wouldn t be writing this and other computer programming books if it wasn t for her.

”Jeff Kent

Acknowledgments

It seems obligatory in acknowledgments for authors to thank their publishers ( especially if they want to write for them again), but I really mean it. This is my fourth book for McGraw-Hill/Osborne, and I hope there will be many more. It truly is a pleasure to work with professionals who are nice people as well as very good at what they do (even when what they are good at is keeping accurate track of the deadlines I miss ).

I first want to thank Wendy Rinaldi, who got me started with McGraw-Hill/Osborne back in 1998 (has it been that long?). Wendy was also my first Acquisitions Editor. Indeed, I got started on this book through a telephone call with Wendy at the end of a vacation with my wife, Devvie, who, being in earshot, and with an are you insane tone in her voice, asked incredulously, You re writing another book?

I also must thank my Acquisitions Coordinator, Athena Honore, and my Project Editor, Lisa Wolters-Broder. Both were unfailingly helpful and patient, while still keeping me on track in this deadline-sensitive business (e.g., I m so sorry you broke both your arms and legs; you ll still have the next chapter turned in by this Friday, right? ).

Mike McGee did the copyediting, together with Lisa. They were kind about my obvious failure during my school days to pay attention to my grammar lessons. They improved what I wrote while still keeping it in my words (that way, if something is wrong, it is still my fault). Mike also indicated he liked some of my stale jokes, which makes him a friend for life.

Jim Keogh was my technical editor. Jim and I had a balance of terror going between us, in that while he was tech editing this book, I was tech editing two books on which he was the main author, Data Structures Demystified and OOP Demystified . Seriously, Jim s suggestions were quite helpful and added value to this book.

There are a lot of other talented people behind the scenes who also helped get this book out to press, but, as in an Academy Awards speech, I can t list them all. That doesn t mean I don t appreciate all their hard work, because I do.

I truly thank my wife Devvie, who in addition to being my wife, best friend (maybe my only one), and partner (I m leaving out lover because computer programmers aren t supposed to be interested in such things), also was my personal tech editor. She is well-qualified for that task, since she has been a computer science professor for 15 years , and also is a stickler for correct English (yes, I know, you can t modify the word unique ). She made this a much better book.

Finally, I would like to give thanks to my daughters, Elise and Emily, and my mom, Bea Kent, for tolerating me when I excused myself from family gatherings, muttering to myself about unreasonable chapter deadlines and merciless editors (sorry, Athena and Lisa). I also should thank my family in advance for not having me committed when I talk about writing my next book.