Tuesday, April 27, 2010

New Training Materials Developments

My training materials on making effective use of C++ in embedded systems are now available. Like my materials on C++0x, they cover material not in my books, come DRM-free, and include free updates for life. I encourage you to check out the sample excerpt.

Less than a day after I announced the availability of my C++0x materials, people started asking about how they could get a license for everybody on a team or everybody in a department, etc. Our solution is a very generous volume discount schedule. Starting with the 10th copy, you get 30% off, and by the time you order 50 copies, you're getting 50% off.

I hope you find the materials on using C++ in embedded systems useful, and I hope you find that the volume discount schedule makes group purchases economical.

Scott

* C++ and Beyond: Meyers, Sutter, & Alexandrescu, Oct. 24-27 near Seattle.
* License Scott's training materials for commercial or personal use.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

"C++ and Beyond" Registration Now Open

In January, I mentioned that Herb Sutter, Andrei Alexandrescu, and I were organizing a sort-of-a-conference event called "C++ and Beyond". We originally planned to hold it this summer, but it turned out that the intersection of availability of a suitable venue and availability of the three of us yielded dates in late October: October 24-27, to be precise. Full information about "C++ and Beyond" (C&B) is available at its web site, and you can remain apprised of C&B-related development by subscribing to its RSS feed. Because of the existence of that feed, I will make very few additional announcements about C&B to this mailing list. If you're interested in C&B, I encourage you to subscribe to its RSS feed.

I blogged about the structure of C&B at http://cppandbeyond.com/2010/04/15/c-beyond-event-structure/ and about the venue and why we chose it at http://cppandbeyond.com/2010/04/16/the-venue-for-cb/, so here I'll simply summarize the main points:
  • Attendance is limited to 60 people.
  • C&B runs from 8AM to 9:30 PM each day and features as much time dedicated to informal discussions as to official presentations.
  • It takes place at a venue designed to foster interaction among participants.
For details, please consult the C&B web site.

Registration for C&B opened yesterday.  There's a 10% discount for early bird registrations (by July 24) , and a further 10% discount for groups of 3 or more. Given the limited attendance and the fact that the first slot got snapped up less than 8 hours after registration opened, I suggest you register earlier rather than later.

I hope to see you in October at C++ and Beyond. I'm convinced it is going to be one of the most rewarding technical opportunities of 2010.

Scott

* C++ and Beyond: Meyers, Sutter, & Alexandrescu, Oct. 24-27 near Seattle.
* License Scott's training materials for commercial or personal use.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Latest ESDS Book, "Effective C#, Second Edition"

As .NET and C# evolve, so must the advice on how to use the language effectively. I'm pleased to report that today I got a shiny new copy of the new second edition of Bill Wagner's "Effective C#". As with the first edition, I learned a lot reading it, and I'm confident it will be as useful to C# developers as both its predecessor and Bill's other C# book, "More Effective C#". (Where do they come up with these names?)

Amazon's page for Bill's new book is http://tinyurl.com/y7awxhc. I encourage you to check it out.

Scott

* Scott's training materials now available for commercial or personal use.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

C++0x Interview with Software Engineering Radio

Last week I chatted with Markus Völter of Software Engineering Radio about C++0x, and earlier this week the interview went live. You can find it at http://www.se-radio.net/podcast/2010-04/episode-159-c0x-scott-meyers.

Scott

* Scott's training materials now available for commercial or personal use.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

My training materials for C++0x, etc., now available

Briefly:
A non-brief explanation follows.

* * * * *

When I write a technical book, my general approach is as follows:
  1. Master the material.
  2. Figure out what "story" I want to tell, i.e., what to cover, what to omit, what order to cover things in, what examples to use, etc.
  3. Write it up.
In practice, Step 2 almost always breaks down into these steps:
  • 2a: Come up with a story that I think will work, i.e., that will effectively convey the technical information.
  • 2b: Develop a training course corresponding to that story.
  • 2c: Deliver the training course to professional developers and see how well the story works. In places where it doesn't work as well as it should, return to step 2a and iterate until everything is satisfactory.
The only difference between writing a book and developing a training course is the existence of step 3: writing the prose corresponding to the story.

My primary activity during the past year has been learning about and teaching other people about C++0x. (It wasn't supposed to be that way, but C++0x turned out to be a much more involved topic than I expected.) I now have a set of C++0x training materials that I think are quite good, but I don't want to write them up in book form, because, among other things, C++0x is still being refined, as is both my understanding of it and compiler vendors' implementations.

Still, I think the information in my C++0x training materials is valuable in its current form, and, to be honest, more comprehensible and up-to-date than what you're likely to find by searching the Internet. Before now, the only way people could get a copy of these materials was to attend one of my training courses (my schedule's at http://www.aristeia.com/seminars.html), but such courses don't take place terribly often, and they're not in everybody's budget, so I've decided to offer my C++0x course notes for sale on a standalone basis.

Unlike a book, they lack the connective prose that makes for a smooth reading experience, but in some ways, they're better than a book. They make more extensive use of color, they "cut out the fat" to focus on the technical essentials, and my licensing terms grant buyers unlimited updates for life: as long as I update the materials, buyers are entitled to a revised version for free. Furthermore, because training materials inherently use a large font and are chopped into page-based chunks, reading them on mobile devices like iPhones should be a more satisfying experience than trying to read a conventional technical book.

The C++0x notes are available now, and by the end of the month, I expect to have the notes from my courses on using C++ in embedded systems and on improving software quality available, too.  You'll find detailed information on all of these at http://www.aristeia.com/Licensing/personalUse.html. Virtually none of the material in these courses is available in my books.

My initial goal with this project was to make the information in my training materials available to individuals who don't attend my training courses, but I know that there are companies who might be interested in the materials, too. For example, technical training companies might want to use them with their own clients, and large companies with internal training departments might want to use them as the basis for internal training.  As a result, I'm now making all my training materials available for commercial licensing. Details on that option are available at http://www.aristeia.com/Licensing/licensing.html.

For over 20 years, I've been doing my best to disseminate useful, accurate technical information to professional software developers. I've written several books and dozens of articles, but some of my most valuable information has existed only in the form of training materials that were accessible only to people who could attend a course. That's no longer the case. All my materials may now be commercially licensed, and selected sets of training materials may be purchased for personal use.

I hope you find the availability of the information in my training materials interesting, and I especially encourage you to check out my C++0x notes (including a free ~25-page excerpt) at http://www.artima.com/shop/overview_of_the_new_cpp.

If you have comments on my making my training materials available for personal and commercial use, don't hesitate to let me know.

Thanks,

Scott

* Scott's training materials now available for commercial or personal use.