Practical C++ Design

"Practical C++ Design, is the type of text that can play a significant role in assisting software developers ... . It introduces the concepts and features of a C++ environment within the context of developing a project. ... The book provides a concise and excellent set of references and a well-constructed index. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals." (J. Beidler, Choice, Vol. 55 (12), August, 2018)

Adam B. Singer graduated first in his class at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999 with a bachelors degree in chemical engineering. He subsequently attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a National Defense, Science, and Engineering Graduate Fellowship. He graduated from MIT with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 2004 after defending his thesis titled Global Dynamic Optimization. Since graduation, Adam has been a member of the research and engineering staff at an oil and gas major, where he has worked in software development, design, and project management in areas such as optimization, reservoir simulation, decision support under uncertainty, basin modeling, well log modeling, and stratigraphy. He has also served on and chaired committees designing in-house training in the areas of technical software development and computational and applied mathematics. He currently holds a research supervisory position. Adam additionally held the title of adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics at Rice University from 2007-2012. In both 2006 and 2007, he taught a graduate level course, CAAM 520, on computational science. The course focused on the design and implementation of high performance parallel programs.

Preface (5 pages)The preface details my motivation for writing the book, the target audience for the book, thegeneral structure of the book, and how to contact the author. Of particular importance is therationale behind choosing the case study, the target language (C++), and the GUI toolkit (Qt).Chapter 1: Defining the Case Study (6 pages)The first chapter describes, in detail, the case study to be examine in the book. The chapterdiscusses requirements in the abstract and then transitions to the calculator's specific requirements.This sets the stage for the remainder of the book, which describes, in detail, the design andimplementation of the calculator, pdCalc, proposed in Chapter 1.1. A Brief Introduction2. A Few Words About Requirements3. Reverse Polish Notation (RPN)4. The Calculator's Requirements5. The Source Code1The advice, information, and conclusions discussed in this book are those of the author and have not beenendorsed by, or reflect the opinions or practices of, ExxonMobil Corporation or its affiliates.5Chapter 2: Decomposition (18 pages)In this chapter, I explain the elements of a good decomposition and strategies for decomposing aproblem into manageable pieces. Subsequently, an architecture for pdCalc is selected, the calculatoris modularized, and use cases are used to develop interfaces for the high level calculator modules.The four high level modules are the stack, the command dispatcher, the user interface (subdividedinto a command line interface and a graphic user interface), and a plugin manager.1. The Elements of a Good Decomposition2. Selecting An Architecture3. Interfaces4. Assessment of Our Current Design5. Next StepsChapter 3: The Stack (20 pages)The stack is the first module discussed in detail. The stack is the fundamental data repositoryof the calculator. As part of the calculator's design and implementation, the singleton pattern isexplored. The stack also affords the first opportunity to discuss an event system for the calculator,which provides a backdrop for exploration of the observer pattern, including the design andimplementation of reusable publisher and observer abstract classes.1. Decomposition of the Stack Module2. The Stack Class3. Adding Events4. A Quick Note on TestingChapter 4: The Command Dispatcher (32 pages)This chapter describes the design and implementation of the command dispatcher, the module ofthe calculator responsible for the creation, storage, and execution of commands. Of particular notein this chapter is the exposition on the command pattern and how it can be used to implement apractical undo/redo framework. In addition to exploring a traditional deep hierarchy method forimplementing commands, a C++11 alternative using lambda expressions and the standard functiontemplate are presented as a modern alternative design.1. The Decomposition of the Command Dispatcher2. The Command Class3. The Command Repository4. The Command Manager5. The Command Dispatcher6. Revisiting Earlier Decisions6Chapter 5: The Command Line Interface (14 pages)This chapter marks an important milestone, the creation of the first user executable program.In addition to building a simple command line interface, we'll explore how to create an abstractsoftware interface suitable for both a command line interface and a graphical user interface. Withinthe context of the command line interface, we'll learn techniques for simple parsing and tokenizingof input text streams.1. The User Interface Abstraction2. The Concrete CLI Class3. Tying It Together: A Working ProgramChapter 6: The Graphical User Interface (24 pages)In this chapter, we build the Qt-based graphical user interface for the calculator. Here, we'llexamine different strategies for building GUIs, abstraction of GUI elements, and modularization ofthe overall GUI design. Included in the discussion is design for the separation of on-screen widgetsfrom look-and-feel.1. Requirements2. Building GUIs3. Modularization4. A Working Program5. A Microsoft Windows B