API Design for C++

Dr. Martin Reddy is the founder and CEO of the software consultancy firm Code Reddy Inc. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and has over 15 years of experience in the software industry. During this time, he has written 3 software patents and has published over 40 professional articles and a book on 3D computer graphics.

Dr. Reddy worked for 6 years at Pixar Animation Studios where he was lead engineer for the studio's in-house animation system. This work involved the design and implementation of various APIs to support several Academy Award-winning and nominated films, such as "Finding Nemo", "The Incredibles", "Cars", "Ratatouille", and "Wall-E."

Dr. Reddy currently works for Linden Lab on the Second Life Viewer, an online 3D virtual world that has been used by over 16 million users around the world. His work is currently focused on a radical redesign of the Second Life Viewer, putting in place a suite of robust APIs to enable extensibility and scriptability.

API Design for C++ provides a comprehensive discussion of Application Programming Interface (API) development, from initial design through implementation, testing, documentation, release, versioning, maintenance, and deprecation. It is the only book that teaches the strategies of C++ API development, including interface design, versioning, scripting, and plug-in extensibility. Drawing from the author's experience on large scale, collaborative software projects, the text offers practical techniques of API design that produce robust code for the long term. It presents patterns and practices that provide real value to individual developers as well as organizations.

API Design for C++ explores often overlooked issues, both technical and non-technical, contributing to successful design decisions that product high quality, robust, and long-lived APIs. It focuses on various API styles and patterns that will allow you to produce elegant and durable libraries. A discussion on testing strategies concentrates on automated API testing techniques rather than attempting to include end-user application testing techniques such as GUI testing, system testing, or manual testing. Each concept is illustrated with extensive C++ code examples, and fully functional examples and working source code for experimentation are available online.

This book will be helpful to new programmers who understand the fundamentals of C++ and who want to advance their design skills, as well as to senior engineers and software architects seeking to gain new expertise to complement their existing talents. Three specific groups of readers are targeted: practicing software engineers and architects, technical managers, and students and educators.

• The only book that teaches the strategies of C++ API development, including design, versioning, documentation, testing, scripting, and extensibility
• Extensive code examples illustrate each concept, with fully functional examples and working source code for experimentation available online
• Covers various API styles and patterns with a focus on practical and efficient designs for large-scale long-term projects

Introduction
1. Qualities
2. Patterns
3. Design
4. Styles
5. C++ Usage
6. Performance
7. Versioning
8. Documentation
9. Testing
10. Scripting
11. Extensibility
Appendix A: Libraries
Bibliography
Index