Books by Bjarne Stroustrup

Modified January 6, 2009

I have written several books:

Bjarne Stroustrup: Programming -- Principles and Practice Using C++. December 2008. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0321543721. 1264 pages. Softcover.
Bjarne Stroustrup: The C++ Programming Language (Special Edition). Addison Wesley. Reading Mass. USA. 2000. ISBN 0-201-70073-5. 1029 pages. Hardcover.
B. Stroustrup: The C++ Programming Language (3rd edition). Addison Wesley Longman, Reading, MA. 1997. ISBN 0-201-88954-4. 920 pages. Softcover.
Bjarne Stroustrup: The Design and Evolution of C++. Addison Wesley, Reading, MA. 1994. ISBN 0-201-54330-3. 472 pages. Softcover. (Often called D&E).
Bjarne Stroustrup: The C++ Programming Language (2nd edition). Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. 1991. ISBN 0-201-53992-6. 696 pages. Softcover.
Margaret A. Ellis and Bjarne Stroustrup: The Annotated C++ Reference Manual. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. 1990. ISBN 0-201-51459-1. 478 pages. Hardcover. (Often called "The ARM")
Bjarne Stroustrup: The C++ Programming Language. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. 1986. ISBN 0-201-12078. 326 pages. Softcover.

For translations, see my publication list and my cover gallery.

The "Programmimg" book is an introduction to programming for people who has never programmed before. It will also be useful for people who have programmed a bit and want to improve their style and technique. It is designed for classroom use, but written with an eye on self study. Drafts have been used as the basis for first programming classes at Texas A&M University for three years now. It is unrelated to the editions of "The C++ Programming language".

The "special edition" is the hardbound version of my 3rd edition. It contains two appendices more than the initial printings of the 3rd edition and many minor improvements. The "extra" appendices can be found on my support pages for the 3rd edition

My 3rd edition is a complete C++ language and standard library tutorial for experienced programmers. It completely describes the C++ standard (ISO/IEC 14882) from the perspective of a programmer.

The third edition is a complete rewrite of the second edition. More than 80% of the text is new compared to my 2nd edition.

D&E discusses why C++ is the way it is. It describes the design of C++. The emphasis is on the overall design goals, practical constraints, and people that shaped C++. It is not a book trying to document every little detail of the language or its use. The point of view in the discussion of C++ tends to be that of a user (programmer or designer) rather that of a language lawyer.

D&E should give you a much better appreciation of the way the features of C++ fit together. It is my hope (and experience) that understanding of such matters helps people write better programs, but the book's primary aim is not on specific programming techniques.

My 2nd edition is a complete C++ tutorial for experienced programmers, plus the C++ reference manual, plus three chapters on design issues, plus a chapter on ANSI/ISO resolutions.

The ANSI/ISO chapter is an attempt to address the problem of how to keep a book completely up-to-date without messing about with its content to the point where it becomes useless as a common point of reference. The approach is feasible because the changes fit into the overall pattern of the language.

By now, the 2nd edition is out-of-date and is unsuitable for learning C++ from. Since it was published, the ISO C++ standard has been adopted and many new design and programming techniques have become common (see my 3rd edition).

The ARM is the C++ reference manual annotated with information supposedly of interest to language lawyers and implementers, plus a chapter on ANSI/ISO resolutions.

Thanks to the good work of the ANSI/ISO committee, the ARM is now outdated.

The 1st edition of The C++ Programming Language introduced C++ to the world and its publication coincided with the first commercial release of C++. By now, it is of historical interest only. Nobody in his right mind would try to learn C++ from it.