Rating: 
Summary: in depth coverage of the C++ language
Review: This book is of value to C++ programmers from novices to experts. It covers most aspects of the C++ language in detail and has excellent examples. The writing is clear and the book explains details not found in many other books. It begins with the simplest C++ concepts and ends with new, advanced features of the language. This is the most useful C++ book I have come accross. However, absolute beginners in programming might find this book a little advanced and too detailed. It may be worth reading a simpler book if you are at this level.
Rating:
Summary: one of 2 required books for C++ software engineering
Review: I have been a software engineer for 9 years in some very challenging and innovative environments. I have worked with very bright fellow engineers. Thus I have picked up a lot of knowledge & wisdom from my own work and from the work of others. This book presents a large majority of what I have learned over the years of specializing in C++ and OO software engineering. This is not a book for those who would be happy with a book entitled _C++ for poets_, but then again why would a poet be attempting a professional career in software engineering anyway. The other book which I consider required reading for a professional software engineer on a multi-million line project is John Lakos's _Large Scale C++ Design_ which has very little to do with C++ (as it applies in large part to Ada95, although it does use C++ as the lingua franca to communicate to a large audience), but rather Lakos's book has a lot to do with on what foundation does one attempts to build a software skyscraper. If one attempts to build a skyscraper on bales of straw as the foundation, then one had better be prepared for a life of hell & catastrophe. If one participates in the full body of wisdom presented in Lakos's book and in this Deitel & Deitel book, then one's professional career will go a lot smoother, eliminating the need to work ungodly amounts of overtime fixing some stupidity-based/ignorance-based problem in the lab. The Lakos book and this Deitel & Deitel book when considered together form the best compendium of the entire rubber-meets-the-road practice of software engineering. If you were to read and truly know & apply what is in both of these books, then you would be a highly treasured expert on your software development project. There are two ways to interact with reality: one can fabricate a fiction inside one's imagination and project that fiction outward onto the world. Or one can obey a knowable reality as it is. This Deitel & Deitel book and the Lakos books approach life from the latter obey-reality perspective. LIFE IN SOFTWARE ENGINEERING IS THIS COMPLEX! If one cannot accept that fact, then one is falling into the trap of the former fabricate-a-fiction-inside-imagination perspective by wishing these complexities away. These two books are long because reality is that complex!
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent referrence for intermediate-level programmers.
Review: I've been programming in FORTRAN, C, C++, Ada, and Visual BASIC for about 3 years. My experience with text books on programming languages has led me to believe that most authors DO NOT wish to reveal powerful programming techniques to their readers. It's up to you as the programmer to learn these techniques by digging through many different books and applying many trial and error processes so that you can eventually become an expert. Deitel & Deitel, however, try to provide the readers with great C and C++ programming tips by using easy-to-follow sentences. Quite honestly, Deitel & Deitel provide a much better explanation about pointers than I've seen in all beginner C and C++ books; excellent chapters on Classes, encapsulation, polymorphism, and data structures. The only reason I didn't give this book a 5-star rating is that the chapter on operator overloading was a bit ambiguous. I cannot wait until they publish Visual C++ How to Program...
Rating:
Summary: Great, C++ book.
Review: This is a great C++ book for me. It is my absolute reference - after finding this book, I could throw away all my other C++ books. I think this is the ideal book for anyone with prior programming knowledge (even just a small amount) and general knowledge of OS file systems and such. If you know about computers and want to learn C++ - this is the book for you. I used it to get an A in my Sophomore level CS201 class at UMass when the rest of the class used some another book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Programming Guide!!!
Review: I used this book for my beginning programming class. At the time, I had no prior knowledge of programming languages and usually had trouble moving files around on the computer. I found this book to be perfect for me as a beginning computer science student. It prepared me for further classes in Data Structures where the code examples were far more difficult than code written in other books on C++. Without this book, I would have surely failed those classes. Deitel & Deitel have written this book with both performance and readability in mind. They've included hundreds of tips to aid in software engineering, performance and portability, and common software error resolution. Their text is lively and a little humour is often thrown in on the side to keep the subject matter from becoming too dull. I would recommend this book to any beginning programmer wanting to learn C++ both from the structured and object-oriented angles. I also think this book would benefit veteran programmers who either need referance material to C++ or just want to pick up the language.
Rating:
Summary: Covers the entire C++ language in one volume.
Review: Believe it or not, these guys covered all the intricacies of the entire C++ language is this one volume. It takes the reader from the nuts and bolts of the C kernel language right through all the advanced topics of object oriented methodologies such as virtual functions, polymorphism, dynamic linking, operator overloading, templates and beyond...at warp speed. C++ is a broad subject and after constantly refering to 6 books while developing code, I have found the Deitels' text to be the best single source of C++ information.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for beginers
Review: I think this book presents a bit too much information too quickly for absolute beginners to computer programming. It is fine for a second or third book on the subject, but I recommend reading a book on C before this. Also, the index is virtually useless and several of the examples are flawed (such as the incorrect algorithm for quicksort).
Rating:
Summary: Why can't I pick zero stars?
Review: Actually, this book deserves the two stars for its value as a REFERENCE work. I have taught programming at the beginner and advanced level for years, in C++ as well as VB and Pascal. And I'm here to tell you: this is NOT a book for beginners. The way the Deitels exhaustively cover each topic is wonderful for a lookup-reference volume. You want to know EVERYTHING, all the ins and outs, tips, pitfalls, and suggestions for each topic covered? Sure, spring for the Deitels. Those who are just starting programming in GENERAL (not programmers who are starting C++ specifically) do NOT need this level of detail, and it is often more confusing and overwhelming than helpful. Good program development procedure is NOT contained in this book (or any other of the Deitel-Deitel team that I've read). You want a good beginner book, go with a step-by-step volume. I've seen too many students curse Harvey and P.J. to recommend this one.
Rating:
Summary: deep, interesting, best basic / starters text on cpp
Review: As a CIS student I have encountered a dozen books on C++. It's THE best one to study with. If you're a student and want to learn C++ don't buy anything else. it's only 20 $ more than other books and it pays itself in no time. And the next text book I'm getting from these guys is "Visual Basic how to program"...
Rating:
Summary: Good book if used by a good teacher
Review: This book is ideally a text/reference book that ought to be used in concert with a good teacher. The book is very well organized and doesn't get too much ahead of itself in the opening chapters. I'm now teaching C++, and there are several books out there that touch on far too many topics in the first two or three chapters. This book touches on just enough to give the reader some interesting examples of basic concepts, but not so much that the reader is overwhelmed. It also works to give the reader a firm grounding the basic syntax and (most importantly) function writing before delving into classes..I've seen far too many books that don't adequetely cover functions before covering classes, leaving the reader fumbling when s/he tries to develop functions and classes on his/her own. The author's additional remarks on common errors and good practices are also helpful. It also has a high reuseability factor. 5 years after learning C++, I still find myself turning to this book as a reference on some obscure syntactical issue. This book simply covers a lot of ground, so it's hard to find a topic/issue that is not covered here. On the down side, this is one verbose book, and it is sometimes too technically written. An unassisted beginner could easily get overwhelmed by the text. I still, sometimes, find myself having to read certain passages several times before I understand what the author is trying to say. This is where the part about having a good teacher comes in...it's nice to have someone who can take some of the techno-babble and make it into English. If you're a beginner who is learning C++ with no outside assistance, don't get this book. If you're a teacher looking for a text to use, or an experienced programmer, this is a primo text.
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