Rating: 
Summary: This book is great
Review: This book is great for beginners and almost anyone who has never programmed before. Jesse liberty has a great way of teaching. It reads like he is actually talking to you and walking you through every step. I have read this book and it is a pretty good reference after the first time through. I highly recommend this for anyone trying to learn C++. Just make sure to get MS Visual C++ (the latest version) first. The book jumps right into code from the first couple of pages, so you're gonna need a compiler.
Rating: 
Summary: Teach Yourself C++ In 21 Days
Review: This is a writer's book instead of a reader's book. Being rather long it covers the language okay but is not easy to read because the author has not tried to explain concpets at the level of a reader not already familiar with them. More accurately he seems to have made an effort to make the content somewhat inaccessible by phrasing everything in the most complicated way. Because of the title some sections have been expanded unnecessarily to make a full 21 chapters, and this is not a good thing. You will be lucky if you can finish this book, and its not likely to be in 21 days thats for sure.I would like to take this opportunity to give some general info on learning C++. The reviews here on Amazon.com are mostly legitimate and very useful, but dont worry too much about finding the perfect book. Also dont regard reviews that complain about typos on page xyz too seriously, all tech books have some mistakes. The most important thing is to buy a book and start somewhere, there will be things that you dont understand in any book but thats the way it is. You need to read and try to understand the concepts yourself as no author can write in a way that you dont even need to think about the content. Personally I started with C++ For Dummies which was actually quite technical for a beginner level book but I have some previous experience so that was okay. You also need to have some enthusiasm for what you are reading and "C++ In 21 Days" is long and boring so probably not a good way to start.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: One word of caution though. This book is not for the first time user, unless they also have a ANSI/ISO Standard C++ reference book too. This book has a great method of teaching the language, but it has syntax errors in the examples given. The author is a C progammer and allows some of the C style to influence the examples. An example is when the author uses <iostream.h> a C header, instead of the C++ header of <iostream>. If you have a reference book to look up those differences, you will benifit from this book. I recommend this book if you are really interested in C++ progamming.
Rating: 
Summary: wrong way to learn
Review: The author knows his material but the book is too quick to start newbies off coding without throughly expaling what they ar doing. A little bit of knowledge is dangerous. This book can be used to give code examples to low intermediate coders.
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Summary: Sweet Book
Review: This has got to be the best book that i have ever brought !! Great Stuff ;P
Rating:
Summary: Good for the experienced, but not for the beginner.
Review: Personally I liked this book because it matched my level of programming; I had experience in Java programming, so I already had the knowledge on object-oriented languages. However, if I had been a complete beginner, I would have stumbled at the beginning because some complicated materials for beginners (such as what the classes and objects are) are not explained thoroughly. Also, the book introduces some materials which are not covered in earlier chapters. For example, the book uses arrays to explain the use of pointers, but the arrays are never introduced in earlier chapters and there are no explanations for that. I would recommend this book if you have experience in other programming languages. If you are a complete beginner, however, I would recommend other ones.
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Summary: Sams is lousy
Review: Sams stinks. I'll never buy any of their books. The compiler is the most important topic to completely clarify; withoutthat, it's very frustrating with a lot of error messages. the only book that's half okay is Teach Yourself Java, when he's not wasting time joking around like so many of these nerds do.
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Summary: LIFETIME MEMBER- LOUSY TEACHER'S CLUB
Review: Very few people make good teachers and as with most people teaching in our schools today at all levels, Jesse Liberty is no exception; another MISERABLE instructor bites the dust. As Borland is THE industry source for C++, the book is too sketchy and leaves unanswered questions with regards to ALL-IMPORTANT compiler setup and successful execution of a first program. That's 90% of the hurdle right there. My grade for book and instructor/ author? F MINUS MINUS. HORRIBLE! IT STINKS!
Rating:
Summary: wonderful guide while learning c++
Review: I have noticed that most of the negative comments about this book are in the area of explaining tiny details such as the explanation of every function used. i think the beginner's typical expectation is to be spoon-fed every single tidbit that is known in software engineering today. unfortunately, if jesse liberty were to explain the reasoning behind every line of code and every design decision, the book would be 9000 pages. i believe that most beginners also skip over the boring beginning sections that explain what the author provides for you and what he expects you to provide for yourself. documentation on every single function in every standard c/c++ library is almost always available with the compiler and tools, or online (if they aren't, get a different kit). it is quite easy to look up in a reference document or help file to see an explanation of all the system calls that are available to you, as well as explanations of syntax details. you must understand that jesse's job is not to teach you eveything there is to know about c++, it is to get you started in a long process of learning. he must use some things to get the basic point across without giving too many details behind it. once you know the basics, all you need to know is how to search the help for what you need to know (F1 is your friend). granted, we are all fallable, so there is a good chance that jesse left something small out -- and some of us will get over that hurdle more easily than others. however, overall, most of his omissions are truly not relevant to your learning c++. in fact, many times it seems that "bad" teachers are those who tell you too much and confuse you into thinking it's really compicated -- which it is definitely NOT. the complicated part is taking the knowledge of the raw materials you have to work with and making them do something useful. the trick to learning the basics of anything is to keep going in spite of some confusion and then re-read the chapter. you will definitely see how there was no way for him to explain everything in one small dose. i found myself many times saying, he left this out or that out, but i kept going. sure enough, they were ALWAYS explained later in their appropriate context. this book is for you if your expectations are realistic and you are hungry to work at learning to code (yeah, i know you want to make a 3D game, but slow down, one thing at a time ;).
Rating:
Summary: C++ takes time and contemplation to master.
Review: No one can teach you anything, especially something so abstract as C++, without you going through a personal metamorphosis of some degree. Jesse Liberty provides all the words you will ever need to learn C++, you have to add the meaning. If you are a beginner you will have to spend more time contemplating the words to make them yours, just like any other learning experience. It's as simple as that, grasshopper. Jesse is a great teacher. Do not let the 21 days make you anxious. 21 days x 24 hours is 504 hours. If you spend that much time truly contemplating this great book, you will achieve all that you bought it for, and more.
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