C++: How to Program [ペーパーバック]

The book covers everything from the very simplest concepts (starting off with the standard "Hello World"-type program that explains that statements must end with semicolons, the use of curly braces, that every program starts execution at the main function, and so on) up to topics such as templates, pure virtual functions, polymorphism via base class pointers to derived classes, structured exception handling, and more.

One of the best things about this book is that it EXPLICITLY teaches you good programming practices, all the way through. Some C++ books meant for beginners try to teach you the language and don't even bother to try to teach you how to write programs correctly. Not this book. Time after time they tell you the proper method of writing code, as well as explaining why it should be done that way.

Also, the authors practice what they teach (and preach). For example, chapter "X" explains how to create templates, then when chapter "Y" creates a generic data structure, like a stack or queue, the authors do so using templates. Some other books teach you something in one chapter and then seem to forget it even exists.

Also, at least the version I have, comes with a Visual C++ 6.0 compiler (its a learning edition or something, not the full version. But who would expect that anyway?).

It's a pretty hefty price compared to many other C++ books. But, not trying to sound too much like an "infomercial", this is probably the only text you will ever need for C++ programming. So you save money by buying this one text instead of buying two or three that each does only a part of what this book does.

Oh, let me clarify something. This book does a pretty comprehensive coverage of ANSI/ISO Standard C++, the subject of the book. It does not teach C++ .NET (but, the same authors do have another book for that!).

Finally, I ran across this book when tutoring someone in a college C++ programming course. So even university professors recognize the worth of the text.

As a gift to anyone who has the slightest interest in programming this would be the book to give. It may come with a hefty price tag, but this is money that's not going to waste.

The book comes with exercises (very good idea!) although most of them don't have the answers. This comes in a separate book. The thing is, if you've taken your time and worked through the chapter then you will be able to solve the exercises. It's such a great feeling when you work out something challenging without referring to any answers. Doing things your OWN way in programming is something that many programmers should adopt.

I was reading C++ From The Ground Up (3rd Ed) by Herbert Schildt and I thought that it was a good book. The thing was that he really made topics like pointers immensely hard! I started getting frustrated and felt as though I needed a break from C++, which I took and moved to other languages. I was then given Deitel's C++ How to Program and it made C++ fun. Not many books, or even people, can do that. I am enjoying working through this book!

Overall this book is for the beginner to intermediate programmer looking to dip into the C++ pool. It's bloody good and I'd recommend it to anyone. I even sent the authors an email asking a question to which I received a timely response. Impressive stuff that was! The colors used makes life easy and the way the authors describe topics will suit even the dimmest of people.

This book ideal if you're bored and want to acquire a new skill, struggling with a C++ subject at school and need some help, taking a course at university and find their textbooks bland or even if you're in a work environment. This book will serve you well.