The design of application programming interfaces can affect the behavior, capabilities, stability, and ease of use of end-user applications. With this book, you will learn how to design a good API for large-scale long-term projects. With extensive C++ code to illustrate each concept, API Design for C++ covers all of the strategies of world-class API development. Martin Reddy draws on over fifteen years of experience in the software industry to offer in-depth discussions of interface design, documentation, testing, and the advanced topics of scripting and plug-in extensibility. Throughout, he focuses on various API styles and patterns that will allow you to produce elegant and durable libraries.


The only book that teaches the strategies of C++ API development, including design, versioning, documentation, testing, scripting, and extensibility.

Extensive code examples illustrate each concept, with fully functional examples and working source code for experimentation available online.

Covers various API styles and patterns with a focus on practical and efficient designs for large-scale long-term projects.