Rating: 
Summary: A bad introduction - in hindsight
Review: As a complete beginner, a few years ago, I found this book quite good, but I have since discovered the awful lot of factual errors and in many cases whole chapters that are more confusing your mental model about the C++ language than helping it.Don't buy this book, there are other much better ones out there!
Rating: 
Summary: A Must-Read
Review: For individuals with busy schedules who want to learn C++ programming quickly without getting lost in technicalities, this is the BOOK. It makes no assumtion of prior programming knowledge, and feeds you each subject in little doses, step by step. Yet it treats subject matters other books just ignore. It has improved my programming style and broadended my knowledge. I recommend it for everyone. It is a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: Very readable, It made me a better programmer
Review: I have tried a few C++ books, and found that this one worked best for me. Maybe it's just my style, but it broke a very big subject into manageable chunks. I didn't feel like anything really new and unknown was sprung on me by surprise. I have been programming for a while, but the ideas and coding style that Liberty used have changed my coding in other languages as well. I also own "The C++ Programming Language", which was tough going until I had read "Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days". Now I understand Stroustrup's book (sort of!).
Rating:
Summary: The first and last place to go to for C++
Review: Jesse Liberty takes on a monstrous task with this book--and pulls it off! He teaches C++ (jumping over 'C') and teaches object oriented programming (taking the beginning student to quite an advanced level, by the way) to students who have NEVER PROGRAMMED BEFORE. I have taken both C and C++ classes, read books, but I could throw it all away and go by this book from scratch and I wouldn't be any worse off. READ THIS BOOK if you are a BEGINNER. READ THIS BOOK if you are an ADVANCED student. READ THIS BOOK if you want a reference that explains subjects like a reference should explain. Whether you are a novice or are more advanced: If Jesse Liberty can't teach you object-oriented C++, then NO ONE CAN. ... And no, I am NOT Jesse Liberty.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad but could have been better
Review: As a technical writer wishing to know more about programming languages, I bought this book in the hopes of learning more about C++. The introductory chapters were fine and I was grasping the concepts fairly well, until the chapter on Object Oriented Programming and also the chapter about pointers. It was at this point I became lost. That's one problem with this book. You're going along fine and all of a sudden you realize you've missed something somehow. I reread several chapters but yet still could not follow what the author was talking about. This really is not an introductory book in spite of the title.
Rating: 
Summary: Complete Garbage
Review: This book is useless for both newbies and those with some programming experience. Jesse Liberty is a terrible writer, and breaks every convention of good technical writing. He frequently leaves out steps, makes incorrect statements, and writes in passive voice with lots of "this", "that", and "it", thrown into the mix until you don't know what he's talking about. From Chapter 1 on, this book is full of errors that will leave you in complete confusion. Even the first section explaining how to install the companion software is wrong! You might as well try to learn C++ by fooling around with the compiler. After reading this book, I don't think Jesse Liberty even knows C++. Trust me, there is no way you will learn C++ from this book in a year, never mind 24 hours.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for what it is...a book aimed squarely at novices.
Review: I am a novice programmer who has decided to learn a development language through a self-study effort, basing all of my formal introduction to C++ squarely on the abilities of various authors to illuminate the subject for me. Let me reiterate: I have NO previous programming experience. With anything. Period.
The reason for buying Liberty's book was the inadequacy of the books I had used previously. They all seemed geared to individuals who had previous programming experience, irrespective of what the editorial remarks about the book may have claimed. I had just thrown Horton's book away in disgust, and I was feeling as if I would never get my arms around a development language without attending an actual course and studying with a learned professor.
Jesse Liberty changed all of that. His approach is definitely the right one for my level of developmental aptitude, and he walked me through the language in such a graduated and careful manner that I was learning subjects with ease that had previously seemed too daunting to grasp when described by other authors.
The book is well-written, and does what it is designed to do: teach you sufficient C++ in 21 days to enable you to begin OOD using C++. This was invaluable for me, as it prevented me from giving up my self-education efforts in disgust. It was exactly the morale builder I needed.
As far as any downsides, I have two major complaints: first, each chapter (which coincides with a single days' lesson) is huge and cumbersome; don't even try to adhere to the schedule intimated by the title as a novice programmer, unless you have at least 8 hours a day to devote to reading, problem solving, self-exploration with your own 'made-up' development scenarios, and end-of-chapter test taking. Secondly, it is far from a comprehensive format for learning C++, so be prepared to continue on to the more difficult texts to learn the real meat-and-potatoes about the C++ language. This book allowed me to graduate onto the Deitels' latest version of their introductory text for C++ programming.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it
Review: Before reading this book i had very little knowlege of
any type of programing. I have tried other books for C++ and Javascript but i felt they started off confusing.
This book really got me off to a good start.
Ive recommended this book to all of my coworkers and
friends that are at all interested in learning C++.
I highly recomend it for someone that has no idea where to start.
Rating:
Summary: Like a good novel
Review: I have encountered alot of examples in many books
covering:
"Rate -this, Salary-that , customer...", which makes the whole
programming concept pretty tedious and grey.
Ofcourse, programming has always been closely related
to economy and finance etc. but there is really no
need for "overkill". Jesse's book covers alot more
interesting ideas when he talks about inheritance
and object-orientation. C++ is pretty tough to master
for a "semi-beginner" and yet, Jesse shows that ANYONE has the
power to learn. I have a friend who told me that I probably
should avoid c++ because of its difficulty. Jesse's book
shows that it is far from impossible to learn.
One other thing: I had some problems with sourcecode on a Sunday
so I posted a question on his booksupport.
Jesse's reply "landed" 3 hours later!!?
There is no question: Jesse really wants you to learn
and his booksupport is the best I've ever experienced!
Rating:
Summary: May be good, but more of a headache
Review: Sometime ago, I made up my mind to learn a new programming language. Believe me, I never knew things would turn out to look like this! Of all the languages I have learned so far, none has proved to be this way. I bought this book hoping it would do the job and believe me, it's not the thing. For beginners, the author really does not take the time to scoop them off the floor. You may be moving forward and then suddenly realize you are no longer following the flow. I have only made it to chapter 11 so far and in one month of time I have dedicated to this book, I have reread those 11 chapters about 4 times thinking I missed something. The author makes references and pointers look like magic with blurred explanations and moves on without explicit explanations. Also, the author sometimes includes complex examples with keywords which have not yet been explained, only adding more confusion to confusion. I was beginning to think the problem was from me but I am glad to see that other people had the same problem. There came a time when I was reluctant to open the book because it came with headaches and lots of "Gosh, how did I get here, am I missing something?" I was actually reading the reviews on this book so I can convince myself to buy another. I think my mind is made up now. This book is definitely not for the beginner. To all other readers in my situation, know the problem is the book and not you! Hey, I'm not trying to say others shouldn't buy the book, it's not just for the person who wants to learn C++ from scrap with no prior knowledge.
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