Wednesday, March 14, 2012

FAQ

I keep receiving the same questions over and over, so I decided to publish the official answers here (but I tend to reply to individual messages anyway, when feasible).

Q: How do I tell if I have the first revision or the second?
A: In the first page, you can see the list of revisions (the last is the current)



First revision: 2011-05-15 
Second revision: 2012-02-07

Q: Is the second revision on sale?
A: YES, and it should be on sale everywhere; the book is printed on demand.

Q: What are the differences between rev.1 and rev.2?
A: Mostly cosmetic: I changed some styles in the template, fixed all the typos and all the problems that are mentioned in this site, added an index and added a couple of paragraphs. The differences are not enough to call it "second edition", that's why I prefer the name "rev.2".

Q: Your fixes didn't involve C++11. In rev.2 you still say: "the next standard", etc.
A: Yes, this is a book published in early 2011, and a revision does not change this fact. rev.2 is "how the book should have been since the beginning", not "how the book would be today".

Q: But you don't mention variadic templates...
A: Yes, it's correct and on purpose. I believe C++0x is not something that you can just mention, and the focus of the book is on C++03.

Q: If I send you a photo, can I have a pdf?
A: Generally not. I published a similar offer, stating very clearly that it was valid for about one week. The idea was to give a cheap upgrade to rev.2 to all the people who bought rev.1 just before rev.2 was on sale. If you think this general principle holds true in your case (so: you have the paper book rev.1, and you bought approximately late February 2012), write me anyway and we can discuss.

Q: Is there any other way to get a pdf?
A: YES. As promised in the book, if you find a (new) typo and you explicitly ask for it, I'll send you the pdf.