C++: Tips and Best Practices. From Beginner to Professional

The book "C++: Tips and Best Practices" is a practical guide that will help you master modern C++ and write efficient, safe, and maintainable code. The author, Alexey Volkov, has compiled over 200 real-world examples and ready-made solutions based on the C++17 and C++20 standards.

What is this book about?

Unlike academic textbooks, this book focuses on the practical aspects of development. You won't just learn theory — you'll get specific tools for solving everyday tasks.

• Memory Management: smart pointers (unique_ptr, shared_ptr, weak_ptr), RAII, avoiding leaks and dangling pointers.
• Modern Idioms: move semantics, perfect forwarding, CRTP, PIMPL, type erasure, and other patterns.
• Performance Optimization: profiling, cache-friendly code, reducing overhead, using constexpr and consteval.
• Templates and Metaprogramming: variadic templates, SFINAE, concepts (C++20), type traits.
• Multithreading and Asynchrony: std::thread, std::async, std::future, std::jthread, mutexes, lock-free structures.
• Error Handling: exceptions, std::optional, std::expected (C++23), return codes.
• Standard Library: containers, algorithms, iterators, strings, input/output streams.
• Unit Testing: writing tests using Google Test and Catch2, TDD in C++.

Who is this book for?

• Beginner developers (1-2 years of experience) who want to move from "just working code" to professional standards.
• Experienced programmers looking to update their knowledge to C++20 and master modern practices.
• Students and teachers studying systems programming and high-performance computing.
• Developers from other languages (Java, Python, C#) transitioning to C++.

What will you learn?

After reading the book, you will be able to:

• Write code that is easy to read, test, and maintain.
• Avoid common mistakes: memory leaks, undefined behavior, data races.
• Effectively use C++17/20 features: structured bindings, filesystem, std::variant, std::any.
• Apply the "Rule of Five," "copy-and-swap idiom," and "copy-on-write strategy."
• Design flexible and extensible APIs using concepts and templates.
• Optimize code without losing readability and safety.

Each chapter contains practical exercises and self-assessment questions. The example code is available on GitHub — you can download it and start experimenting immediately.

"C++: Tips and Best Practices" is not a reference book, but a desktop companion you will return to again and again. Whether you write embedded systems, games, high-load servers, or desktop applications — this book will be your reliable guide to the world of modern C++.