First Steps in API Design with C++

“API Design for C++” is an excellent introduction to the implementation of APIs with C++.

The parts where the author actually deals with API design or implementation are excellent and worth 5 stars. But: Thematically, the topic of “API Design” borders on various areas of software development, such as design patterns, requirements analysis, architecture, performance optimization, documentation, test-driven development, and scripting.

Unfortunately, the author chose to cover these topics in this book as well. As a result, API design is neglected and the introductions to topics like test-driven development are not detailed enough to allow for confident work, so one is dependent on further literature here.

It is completely incomprehensible to me why a 30-page chapter on integrating Python and Ruby was included in the book.

It is therefore a good book for beginners who use C++. However, those who are already familiar with the pitfalls of C++, for example, regularly use templates or boost::shared_ptr and have already read a book or two about “Do’s and Don’ts” in C++, should carefully check beforehand whether purchasing the book is worthwhile.

Martin Reddy
API Design for C++
Academic Press
2011