Should I read the Exceptional C++ books if I've read the Effective C++ series [closed]

Question

I'm a practicing C++ programmer (on Unix and gcc 3.x) for the past 6-7 years. I've read Scott Meyer's Effective C++, More Effective C++ and Effective STL cover-to-cover and have lived and practiced his suggestions/techniques along with Boost. I would like to move on to the more advanced aspects of C++ - something along the lines of 'Modern C++ Design' by Andrei Alexandrescu. However, before starting to read this, I am wondering if I should spend time reading Herb Sutter's Exceptional C++ books as well. How would you compare the Effective C++ series with Sutter's books?

Thanks a lot in advance for your response.

Answer 1

Read as much as you can - differing perspectives are always valuable.

Answer 2

Yes, absolutely. Herb Sutter covers a lot of very important, but generally poorly understood areas of the language and provides lots of useful guidance for writing more robust code.

While it's true that much of the material originated on the gotw site, it is expanded and better organized in the books. If you can answer all of the problems correctly then you find that you are very rarely faced with code that you don't understand why it behaves like it does. You may also find yourself heading off many potential problems that you spot in code before they become real issues.

I got a lot more out of the Exceptional C++ books than I did out of Effective C++, but this is going to be a very personal thing.