This book provides readers with concise code examples and brief descriptions for many fundamental C++ language features. The book is suitable for C++ programmers who need to frequently check the language syntax. Although this is not an introductory book, novice C++ programmers will find it very useful.

The first two chapters of the book instruct readers on how to develop, compile, and run C++ programs. Chapters 3 through 11 cover topics including variables, operators, pointers, references, arrays, strings, conditional statements, loop constructs, and functions; many of these language features are also included in the C programming language.

Chapters 12 through 16 discuss topics relevant to C++ classes; these topics include constructors, destructors, inheritance, overriding methods in derived classes, and the access levels for class members. Chapter 17 presents how to use the keyword “static”; a number of code examples also involve C++ classes.

Chapters 18 and 19 cover a number of keywords including “enum,” “struct,” and “union.” Chapters 20 through 26 present operator overloading, type conversions, namespaces, constants, preprocessor directives, exception handling, and casting. Chapter 27 introduces C++ templates with concise code examples and lucid descriptions. Finally, header files are discussed in chapter 28, which is followed by the index section of the book.

The major drawback of the book is that the topics it covers are not broad enough. Therefore, it may not be suitable for advanced C++ programmers, as many advanced or frequently used language features are not covered. For example, containers (including vector, list, set, map, and unordered_map) that exist in the C++ standard library are not introduced. Also, the book should contain the syntax for frequently used functions, such as the functions for file input/output operations and for output formatting. In addition, some useful features defined in the C++11 standard, such as regular expressions and smart pointers, could have been included in the book.

Since C++ is a huge and complex language, it is difficult to cover all of the important language features within 105 pages. However, the book serves its purpose very well for the topics it contains. Specifically, the code examples are concise, easy to understand, and easy to follow. Also, the brief descriptions are clear and to the point. Most importantly, the book provides a quick reference for checking C++ language syntax, as suggested by its title.

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