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Errata for The C++ Programming Language (3rd Edition)

Modified June 26, 2006

Errata for Bjarne Stroustrup: The C++ Programming Language (3rd edition), Addison-Wesley, 1997. ISBN0-201-88954-4. This errata also applies to The C++ Programming Language (Special Edition). Addison Wesley. Reading Mass. USA. 2000. ISBN 0-201-70073-5.

I classify the errata into two categories. "Errors and Clarifications" are things that could impair understanding. This category contains more clarifications than corrections of "errors." "Typos" are spelling and grammar mistakes.

I do not recommend systematically applying errata to a book; most errata is irrelevant to an individual reader. Most errata items clarify issues that most readers don't misunderstand or correct minor errors that most readers don't notice and that don't affect their understanding of C++. The errata is here for people who do notice and for people to check in case of doubt.

With the 6th/16th printing, I have changed my policy for errata. I will no longer post errata that in my opinion doesn't significantly affect a reader's ability to comprehend. Nor will I post minor clarifications. The benefits of doing so have diminished over time and so has the time available to me for to post this. People, such as translators, who really need to know every little improvement, should obtain a copy of the latest printing. In general, I consider late printings significant improvements over early printings. If I had a pre-2000 printing (e.g. a 9th printing) and I used it heavily, I'd retire it in favor of the latest printing.

For brevity, I use the old replacement syntax: s/old/new/

I very much appreciate reports of errors and constructive comments on the contents in general.

Note that index terms often refer to the page where the discussion of a topic begins rather that to the page where a term first occurs. This occasionally makes the index appear to be off by one.

Thanks to people who have mailed me suggested corrections for the most recent editions. (I'll get around to listing them/you eventually).

Errata for earlier printings.

Errata for the 20th printing yielding the 21th printing.

Errata for the 13th printing of the Special Edition, yielding the 14th.

You find the printing number at the bottom of the copyright page. The 14th printing of my 3rd edition is identical to the 4th printing of the "special" edition except for the cover.

A few apparent errors are left because they reflect open issues that I expect to be resolved in favor of what the book says.

As a small token of my gratitude to people who report problems and thereby help me improve the book, I offer a reward to someone who first reports a misspelling, a bug in a code example, or a factual error in the text to me. The bounty for new errors in the text is US$32. I will count multiple occurrencies of a single minor mistake as one. I appreciate comments about subtleties of style, English grammar and punctuation, and about typesetting style, but I offer no bounty for those. Similarly, I appreciate comments about book organization, programming language design, missing topics, omissions in explanations, etc., but consider such topics too subjective to offer a bounty, though I will send one if a comment directly leads to a significant improvement. I do not offer a bounty for errors in my errata or other web pages. Please remember that I offer the bounty as a courtesy and please don't quibble with me over the rules - I'm not a lawyer and don't want to become one.

Please check the errata and the issues list before reporting an error. I try to post errata promptly (but naturally the errata can be a few days behind my records) and occasionally the errata doesn't exactly reflect the state book. If you think you are the first to report an error and would like me to mail a check, please say so (I won't risk insulting anyone by sending an unrequested check) and include a paper mail address.

Naturally, I plan to increase the bounty for future printings.

- Bjarne

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