Operator dynamic_cast fails when it cannot convert its argument to the desired type. Usually, such a failure results from an attempt to cast an object to a non-related class. But

Standard exception classes are derived from std::exception (defined in the header). They all implement the member function what(), which returns a const char * with a description of the exception:

STL containers overload the assignment operator, thereby allowing you to easily assign containers of the same type to one another: #include #includeusing namespace std;void main() { vector vi; vi.push_back(1); vi.push_back(2);

When serializing a Hashtable in Java, make sure that the keys used to store objects are either primitives, or the key class’ hashCode() method overrides the superclass Object’s hashCode() method.

Many Visual InterDev 6 developers have destroyed their Visual InterDev 6 environments by installing Internet Explorer 5 beta. Microsoft mentions potential problems in the IE5 beta’s release notes but too

Even if your Web site is rock-solid with no broken links on it anywhere, chances are someone is going to see a 404 File not Found error page someday, if

The Perl sort function is useful for alphabetically sorting lists. However, you can’t use it on a list of lists, because once a list starts listing other lists, they cease

The serialization mechanism in Java provides the means for persisting objects beyond a single run of a Java program. To serialize an object, make sure that the declaring class implements

You can do a lot of cool things using Microsoft’s Remote Data Services (RDS). For example, have you ever wanted to display a field from a database table read-only in

Virtual inheritance is used to avoid multiple copies of a base class in a multiple-inherited object. However, there are cases where multiple copies of a base are needed in a

The java.lang package defines a class called Class. The Class class is different from the class (with a small ‘c’) keyword used to declare Java classes. The Class class is

Technically, JavaScript doesn’t support multi-dimensional arrays, but you can simulate a two-dimensional array by creating an array of arrays. This can be particularly useful if you want to create a

The Object class in Java is a superclass for all other classes defined in Java’s class libraries, as well as for user-defined Java classes. In object-oriented terms, an object is

The term endian refers to the way a computer architecture stores the bytes of a multi-byte number in memory. If bytes at lower addresses have lower significance (Intel microprocessors, for

It is possible to initialize a union. Yet, unlike struct initialization, the initialization list of a union must contain a single initializer that refers to the first member in the

Question: I am trying to write a script that creates a small file on the client machine. The script is trying to use the FileSystemObject. I have tried MSDN Library

Question: I am trying to create a site that will take user input via forms, query a database, and return results to the user. I’ve been reading a ton of

Collision detection is a fundamental part of game programming. It is also useful for many other aspects of user interface design. Being able to tell if one screen object has

The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) shields Java developers from the system level burdens of starting and stopping processes. A Java application runs inside the JVM, while a Java applet runs

Some users always maximize their browser window, while others like to keep it small. Not knowing the size of the client window can cause formatting problems for HTML pages; tables

A literal integer preceded by 0 (zero) is an octal numeral. When using octal numbers, you should beware of the following common pitfall: const int warning = 10;const int error

When a derived class inherits from a private base, the is-a relation between a derived object and its private base does not exist. For example: class Mem_Manager {/*..*/};class List: private

Question: I am using CreateProcess to run applications in Windows NT. I cannot start any applications that are located in the directory Program Files. The user properties are set the

The Proxy is one of the most common design patterns in circulation. Gamma et. al. define the intent of the Proxy as: “Provide a surrogate or a placeholder for another

Java provides two ways to create and run a thread. You can implement the Runnable interface or extend the Thread class. The Runnable interface defines a single method run(). Consider

The literal 0 is an int. However, it can be used as a universal initializer for every data type, since it is automatically cast to the appropriate type. In this

The Standard Library provides a generic copy function, which can be used to copy a sequence of objects to a specified target. The first and the second arguments of copy()

Passing a function pointer is a common practice in event-driven systems, whereby a callback routine is invoked through a pointer. C++, however, offers a better alternative to function pointers: function

When building a floating toolbar, you might need to keep it in front of the main form of your application. This took time to do in VB3 and VB4, because

This fragment of code from the VB standard module shows the GetComCtlVersion function that retrieves the major and minor version numbers of the Comctl32.dll installed on the local system. Use