The Structure of This Book

This book is divided into three distinct parts.

• Part I, "Everything But the Code" (Chapters 1–3)—This first book part discusses optimization theory of the aspects of software development that precede actual implementation. It offers advice and practical examples with solutions in areas such as choosing between programming languages, examining target hardware, looking at device interaction, setting up correct system requirements, designing new systems, and optimizing systems that already suffer from performance problems.

• Part II, "Getting Our Hands Dirty" (Chapters 4–13)—This second book part discusses implementation problem areas by looking at examples of problems often encountered in the field. It shows where and why problems are likely to occur and offers ready-to-use solutions for efficient function calling, memory management, IO, and setting up and handling data structures.

• Part III, "Tips and Pitfalls" (Chapters 14 and 15)—This third book part gives an overview of sneaky problems and traps you can encounter when using C/C++.

For the code samples used throughout this book, go to the Web site at http://www.samspublishing.com and search for this book's ISBN, 0672319047.