Beginner workbook · Part V

Build tools.
Understand every step.

Reliable Tools and Scheduled Workflows

Learn C++17 by building small local tools, inspecting their results, and extending them with confidence.

Get Part V — $5 Read the free sample

200 pages · 6 runnable programs · 24 practice cases

C++ Automation Lab Part V workbook cover

Inside this volume

Six tools. Four cases each.

Strict Cli

A reliable CLI has a small explicit grammar. This program accepts exactly one option and one bounded integer. It rejects unknown options, partial numbers, and excessive repeat counts before producing any output.

Config Check

A tiny configuration format can be easier to maintain than a large dependency. This teaching format accepts exactly one mode line and one limit line, in either order. It rejects duplicates and unknown keys.

Status Channels

Data and diagnostics have different audiences. Standard output can feed another tool; standard error can explain failures. Exit status provides a machine-readable signal independently of either stream.

Bounded Queue

Automation should have a workload limit. This tool reads at most five complete jobs and validates the full input before printing the plan. It creates a preview; it never executes commands from input.

Stable Manifest

Stable reports make repeated runs easy to compare. This tool validates relative forward-slash paths, rejects parent components, removes duplicates, and sorts the accepted paths. It does not open files or prove containment against symlinks.

Run Summary

A scheduled tool must have a measurable result. This classifier turns explicit result labels into a deterministic summary. It is suitable as a small parser stage in a larger workflow, not a scheduler by itself.

Read, run, debug, extend.

Each eight-page case includes a lesson, fixture setup, complete source, expected output, a debugging task, verification, an extension, and a handoff record.

A hands-on workbook with writing space. The 200 pages include tracing, planning, and reflection areas. Four cases intentionally revisit each program with different input. Download the sample to see the format before buying.

Your purchase includes the PDF and companion ZIP with six C++ source files, case definitions, expected results, and an optional Python test runner. This is a written workbook. Later volumes build on earlier skills. A C++17 compiler is required.

From first build to repeatable workflow

The five-part series

Each volume costs $5 USD and is sold separately.

Try the smallest passing example first.

Windows and VS Code setup guidance. Standard-library tools for trusted local ASCII lab fixtures. No desktop macro recording or browser automation is included.

Get the workbook — $5

Build tools.Understand every step.