The book begins by describing the need for multi-paradigm design. This chapter is followed by a closer look at how we do analysis nowadays: finding the abstractions of the application domain and then structuring them according to their variation and commonality. This part of the book presents a broad range of information about the analysis and design process from various points of view, and it ends with a discussion of the technical aspects of variation.

One of these technical aspects, for example, is the point at which the variation gets bound: during implementation, at compile time, link time, or run time. Subsequent chapters explore the C++ features that allow developers to express variation and commonality: inheritance from the object paradigm, templates from the paradigm of generic types, function overloading, preprocessor directives, and so on. These discussions are followed by tables that show the mapping of the aspect of variation determined during analysis to C++ language features. For example, one table shows when the variation expressed by a certain language feature is bound: inheritance (with polymorphic types) at run time, templates at compile and link time, and so on.

The next part of the book takes a closer look at the elements of multi-paradigm design and the forces behind them. These discussions are combined with examples that show how to apply multi-paradigm design to real design problems. The book closes with a chapter that examines how multi-paradigm design and patterns are related.

Coplien writes in a pleasantly sober style. He does not extol multi-paradigm design as the latest hot topic. Instead he shows precisely and convincingly that multiple paradigms already exist in contemporary software development and that including multi-paradigm design as an explicit part of the development process can help eliminate common problems and shortcomings in the process. The book excels because of the author's broad knowledge: all discussions consider two different yet related aspects of software development: technical issues and organizational issues. And both are equally important for the success of a software development project.

Multi-Paradigm Design in C++ is a great book crammed with elaborate and compelling ideas. Reading it will change your perception of software development.

Angelika Langer develops and teaches classes on advanced C++, STL, multithreading, internationalization, and Java. She has served on the ANSI/ISO C++ Committee since 1993. Klaus Kreft is a software architect and consultant with more than a decade of experience in industrial software development. He works for Siemens Business Services in Germany. Langer and Kreft are working on a book about standard C++ iostreams and locales and are columnists for C++ Report .