Fortunately, I've found an alternative to writing C++ books, namely reviewing them. It takes less time, and pushes me to explore new C++ horizons. It allows me to learn while doing something useful. My 'reviewing career' (what's in a name ;-) started in 2013 when I reviewed Scott Meyers his 'Effective Modern C++' book. For me, it was quite a tough read, but I enjoyed it and I was getting quite some satisfaction out of it.
About a year later, Rainer Grimm asked me if I wanted to review his 'C++, die Standardbibliothek: kurz & gut' in German. I didn't hesitate a second. Rainer has a rather different writing style then Scott (and he writes in German of course ;-), making this review again a challenging but enjoyable experience.
Earlier this year, Peter Van Weert and Marc Gregoire (the second one being a former fellow computer science student of mine) asked me if I was interested in reviewing their 'C++ Standard Library Quick Reference'. Needless to say I was happy they asked. About half a year later, the book is out! It's cool to see how I also get my credits on page XVII :-)
I try to dedicate all my reviewing work to my now 6-year-old son Jenne, using small easter eggs in the books I review. I always kindly ask the authors if they want to add my and my son's name in one of their code examples. Up until now, not a single author has refused that request. It looks like this on page 71 of the book:
Pretty cool, huh! Although Jenne starts to like programming with Scratch and LEGO WeDo 2.0, he currently doesn't know a clue about C++. I hope some day, he will understand the message I sent him through these easter eggs. It's a message of hope, dedication, perseverence and true love for the child whom I care about so much.
