A Tour of C++ (3rd Edition) - Notes and Examples

This project contains examples and notes based on Bjarne Stroustrup's "A Tour of C++, 3rd Edition" book. It's organized by chapters, with each chapter containing example code that demonstrates the concepts discussed in the book.

Project Structure

a-tour-of-cpp/
├── CMakeLists.txt       # Main CMake configuration
├── CMakePresets.json    # CMake presets configuration
├── vcpkg.json           # vcpkg manifest file
└── src/                 # Source files, organized by chapter
    └── ch01/            # Chapter 1: The Basics
        ├── CMakeLists.txt
        ├── hello_world.cpp
        ├── types_variables.cpp
        ├── constants.cpp
        ├── minimal.cpp
        └── pointers_arrays_references.cpp

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.20 or higher
• Clang compiler (automatically selected in CMakeLists.txt)
• vcpkg (for package management)

Dependencies

Currently this project depends on:

• fmt: Modern formatting library for C++

Setup

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/wangqin0/a-tour-of-cpp.git
   cd a-tour-of-cpp

2. Set up vcpkg:

   # If you don't have vcpkg installed:
   git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git
   ./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.sh  # On Unix-like systems
   ./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.bat  # On Windows

Setting Environment Variables

Manual Environment Variable Setup

You'll need to set up the following environment variable:

1. VCPKG_ROOT: Path to vcpkg installation

   Windows:

   set VCPKG_ROOT=C:\path\to\vcpkg

   Unix/macOS/Linux:

   export VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg

Setting Variables Permanently

Windows

1. Open Start menu and search for "Environment Variables"
2. Click "Edit the system environment variables"
3. In the System Properties window, click "Environment Variables"
4. Add or modify the variables in the User variables section
5. Click OK to save

macOS/Linux

Add to your ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or appropriate shell configuration file:

export VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg

Building with CMake Presets

This project uses CMake Presets to simplify the build process. The CMakePresets.json file defines standardized build configurations.

Building the Project

# Configure and build using CMake presets
cmake --preset=default
cmake --build --preset=default

When you run these commands:

1. CMake processes your vcpkg.json file
2. vcpkg automatically downloads and builds the dependencies
3. The packages are installed to the build directory
4. CMake finds and uses these packages

Using Visual Studio Code

1. Install the CMake Tools extension
2. Open the project folder in VS Code
3. The extension will automatically detect and use the CMake presets

Running the Examples

After building, you can run any of the examples. From the build directory:

# Run the Hello World example
./src/ch01/ch01_hello_world

# Run the Types and Variables example
./src/ch01/ch01_types_variables

# Run the Constants example
./src/ch01/ch01_constants

# Run the Minimal example
./src/ch01/ch01_minimal

# Run the Pointers, Arrays, and References example
./src/ch01/ch01_pointers_arrays_references

Managing Dependencies with vcpkg.json

The vcpkg.json file specifies your project's dependencies:

{
  "dependencies": [
    "fmt"
  ]
}

To add a new dependency, simply add its name to the "dependencies" array.

Adding More Chapters

As you progress through the book, you can add more chapters by:

1. Creating a new directory under src/ (e.g., src/ch02/)
2. Adding example code files
3. Creating a CMakeLists.txt file in the new chapter directory
4. Adding the new chapter directory to the main CMakeLists.txt using add_subdirectory()

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.