Rating: 
Summary: Unclear presentation of concepts and code
Review: It lacks a clear presentation of the concepts behind the various language constructs. Often it explains indirectly, by supplying tons of (complicated) examples and personal opinions. Indeed, this is not a beginners book: You first need to understand C++ before understanding what should have been "The C++ Book"!Also, it does not contain a complete reference of STL, nor does it fully cover STL topics in the examples. The worst thing however, is the fact that all code is printed in a proportional font; which is especially bad for a language which uses a lot of punctuation. In this sense it's really unique (of all books I have seen about C, Java, Haskell, Lisp, Design Patterns, ..., it's the only one doing this). In addition, examples are sometimes badly formatted (probably to save space) making things even worse. But okay, if you already know C++ from better books ..., it does contain a lot of details not easily found together in another book.
Rating: 
Summary: Opinions on software design worth the price alone.
Review: I bought this book shortly after picking up the Waite Group's C++ Primer Plus. I have a Computer Science minor, but primarily programmed in Pascal before deciding to learn C++. The book is not at all easy to read as mentioned in previous reviews but the amount of information combined with the author's (obvious) understanding of how best to use many features of the language makes the reading worth it. DO NOT buy this book and expect it to be a Primer or a tutorial for a beginner. If you do, then you have no business writing a bad review about it because this was not the intent of the book. As mentioned, the writing style is disorganized and I haven't even tried to read it 'cover to cover'. Usually what happens is I use the Waite guide to get my feet wet on a concept, jump to Eckel's "Thinking in C++" for a more in depth explanation and finally open up Stroustrup's book for the 'final word' on how and why to use the concept. Finally, the last 3 chapters of the book are worth the price alone. Sure, not all of the discussion will have personal relevance when he talks about software projects and the pitfalls, but there is a lot of a good advice and points to ponder. Design is the hardest part of the programming process (or at least the most important) and it's nice to see a book that treats the subject with both authority and respect.
Rating: 
Summary: Great - But strictly not for beginners!!
Review: The best and most extensive coverage of C++, naturally from the author. Should not be studied as the first book on C++ programming as the author assumes prior knowledge of programming in C as well as OOP. Start with a simple beginners book like Thinking in C++ - Bruce Eckel and work towards this one. A must for developers to keep in their reference shelves.
Rating:
Summary: Concise description of the C++ language
Review: Stroustrup explains the intended usage of each element of the C++ language. He demonstrates reasonable usage of the C++ language with brief examples. Serves as a complete reference by covering C++ basic facilities, abstraction mechanisms, the standard library, and design using C++. Presents the C++ language as standardized in ISO/IEC 14882. This is an excellent intermediate level book.
Rating:
Summary: Reveals more each time I read it
Review: I think this book was written for people who have already some experience with C or C++. New concepts are NOT introduced in an orderly or organized sequence. But they probably are not meant to be introduced in a strict order. Many concepts are inter-related. If you already have some ideas of what C++ as a language is about and what each feature of C++ is about, you should find the cross-references in the book quite useful. As for an assessment of the writing style, it really largely depends on personal taste of the reader. I will share my personal experience. At first, when I didn't know much about C++, I found the writing style to be dry and somewhat sluggish, as the writing didn't seem to get ideas across to me. But as I gained more knowledge about C++, the writing style started to seem more and more meaningful, clear, concise, and even easy to read. (The author Bjarne Stroustrup's another book _Design and Evolution of C++_ left a big impression on me as to what his writing style is like.) As for the quality of the technical content in this book, I guess there's little doubt that this book is very likely the most accurate and complete single work that describe the Standard C++ programming language. Just keep in mind that (tutorial != for beginners). : - )
Rating:
Summary: Not written very well
Review: A good book for a resource but certainly not as a tutorial on C++, simply because I feel the writing style is unorganized and boring.
Rating:
Summary: Good reference material
Review: This book is a definite must have for any serious c++ developers. Because this book delves into the details of the c++ technicality side, you must have strong foundation of the C++ features. Without that foundation, this book is just a terribly disorganized useless book. Although I never liked Bjarnes' passive writing style in his every previous books, it is a must have reference book to master C++.
Rating:
Summary: definitive guide to the language, but not for beginners
Review: As a language reference, I highly recommend this book. Every language feature is explained, with illustrative code snippets. Aside from the section on the standard library, this book improves on the previous edition by incorporating more material on designing using C++. This is significant because a major stumbling block to using C++ well is knowing when and where to use a language feature. Another major improvement is the section on 'advice' which can be found at the end of every chapter. This portion summarizes what the chapter was trying to teach, with pointers to the relevant part of the book. As a tutorial for the beginner, I suggest you look elsewhere. The book is not easy to read, since the author tries to explain so much in so little space (if you can call 900 pages 'little'). You will probably read this book more than TWICE. First, to simply try out the language on your compiler (sit in front of your computer when you do). Second, to digest the material on designing using C++ (try doing this away from your computer). Third, to see if you missed out anything significant. You will.
Rating:
Summary: Very Thurough
Review: This is a very thurough book about ANSI C++ from the creator. It is not for beginners to programming or C++, but is best used to fill in any holes in your knowledge. This IS the end all be all of ANSI C++ books. It's very 'math-bookey' and some of the sections are difficult to grasp, but if you want to be senior level C++, this will do it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book for Beginners
Review: I had to review this book twice because in my last review I had only given the book 4 out of 5 stars, when really this book should be a 7. It is an amazing book for people who have never programmed before in their life. It seems to start really nice and simple and get more complex as you read on. I would recomend this book for people who would like to get into programming and people who would like a good solid beginners book. After reading this book it would be suitable to advance to 'C++ for Dummies' or a book along that line of difficulty. Once again, A great book for Beginners! By, Maxwell T. Dornes
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