Rating: 
Summary: Just right for beginning C++, I recommend it
Review: I found the book to be a perfect mix between explanations and examples. Too many beginners programming books that I nearly tried in the past push pages and pages of example code at you without any detailed explanation and call that "teaching". I was able to read through this entire book once while only skimming the examples, and I was able to understand just about all of what the author was trying to show. Then I spent time examining and trying out the examples to confirm my understanding. Also, too many other beginners books that I considered purchasing seemed to go to one of two extremes; either treating the reader like an idiot, or glossing over basic concepts without real explanation. The author takes the tack that he is conveying completely new knowledge to an intelligent human being who is inexperienced in this field. I should note that I had some programming knowledge before reading this book, but not extensive (A TINY amount of C, some FORTRAN which I've mostly forgotten, and some BASIC). It may have helped, but I don't think it was necessary to understand the book.
Rating: 
Summary: I recommed this book to C++ beginners
Review: If you are a beginning programmer learning C++, I recommend this book as a good way to learn the concepts. This is not a tutorial, so it doesn't have exercises to work through. For a good tutorial, check out Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days (it will take longer than 21 days) as a companion to this book. This was the text for an online class on C++ programming that I took from the U. of Massachusetts. I found this a very clear explanation of C++ concepts. It was very helpful. But this is not like a usual textbook. Contrary to all the text books I've seen on the topic, the author does not write like he wishes he were really writing a computer science dissertation. Schildt writes for real people and gives clear explanations. The author uses very short examples, which is more helpful than other books I have read that give you pages of code to wade though just to illustrate a simple point. Folks, there are no perfect books. For example, I found the introduction to I/O a little confusing in this book. But overall, I found it excellent. It teaches the latest standard C++, like using namespaces, but it's all stuff the compilers support. If you already know C++, don't buy this. It's a beginning book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not that Useful
Review: Poorly written. The goal was to produce a book of 800 pages which would look impressive to book reviewers. However if you're actually using Schildt's books to try to program it's very bad.
For example 1/2 of a page is devoted to loops while padding output takes many pages. A lot of topics are very poorly treated although at a first glance the book appears to be useful.
Rating: 
Summary: Close, But No Cigar
Review: This book is close to being an excellent book. Most of the C++ books either assume that you are a C expert, or are aimed at programming novices (with "what is a variable?" type chapters). This book does neither. The layout of the book makes it suitable as a tutorial or as a reference. With that said, I have a couple complaints about the book. This is supposed to be a C++ book, but you don't see a class until page 243 (over half way through the book!). I realize that you don't want to cover multiple inheritance in the first chapter, but the examples in the front of the book should use classes and object oriented methologies. In addition, important features like templates and exception handling are glossed over in the final chapter, "Templates and Other Advanced Features". To be up to date, the coverage of these topics needs to be expanded. In conslusion, I cannot recommend this book. Classes and object oriented programming are core concepts of C++ and should not be glossed over. I hope that a second edition is in the works.
Rating:
Summary: Solid C++ introduction
Review: Great explanation and exemplification of pointers. I started with Horton's Beginning Visual C++, and got bogged down with the pointer stuff. Then I began reading Schildt, and he made it all seem so easy and clear that I just kept reading. I have only some minor gripes. 1) The example programs are often repeated with only minor modifications, which are not highlighted --- they're buried in the code; 2) I haven't checked the errata sheet, but I found it challenging and fun to debug some of Schildt's code (check out page 588 for a real blooper!); 3) The coverage of STL was (necessarily, I suppose) cursory and vague; 4) Schildt never gives a clear explanation of things like "template <class T, Allocator = allocator<T>>class list" (p 583) --- these "syntax models" occur late in the book, however, and the examples that follow usually make things pretty clear; and 5) After finishing this book I can supposedly "call [myself] a C++ programmer"(page 637). I can also call myself a wombat --- it ain't necessarily true, though! It was a good read, and I now feel better able to attack Horton.
Rating:
Summary: For the skill level, it meets its goal
Review: The book says specifically that it is written for beginner to intermediate level. This book meets that goal very well. I have an BS in computer science and I have worked in industry as a developer for over 6 years, several of these using C++. I brought this book, because I learned C++ by using it. Therefore, I only used a small subset of C++'s capabilities in my job, and I really wanted to know the language well. There are several things that need to be taken into account when trying to learn C++. First, the authors of the actual C++ language estimate that it will take 6 months - 1 1/2 years to truly learn C++. Second, all college level computer science students take a class in algorithms, datastructure, object oriented programming, file systems, and software engineering. Chapters 1 - 9 cover the material that is usually taught in a standard "algorthims" class. Chapters 10 - 15 would cover the material that would be expected in a hands on object oriented programming class. Chapters 16 - 22 would cover the material in an advanced C++ class. Even after you finish this book, your education is not complete. This book only covers 1/3 of what is actually in the C++ language standards. "The C++ Standard Library" will teach you about STL: Standard Template Library -- material taught in a standard data structures class, and is another 1/3 of the language standards. Then you will need "Standard C++ IOStreams and Locales". This will cover the last 1/3 of the C++ langauge standards, file systems. Finally, you will need a book about interfacing with databases, so you can save the data, and GUI, so you can interface with the user. I don't mean to discourage anyone from learning C++. I just wanted to provide realistic expectations. Starting at Chapter 6, I have been going through this book slowly, and I have been learning a lot about the details of C++. The book will not teach a person how to write algorithms or how to write object oriented code. It will just teach you how to do it in C++. Therefore, if you don't know the theory of these ideas, you will need a book to explain the theory.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for people wanting to learn C++
Review: GREAT book!!!excellent for programming noobs
Rating:
Summary: Mainframe programmer got thru this book.
Review: After 20 yrs of mainframe programming, this book was my first exposure to the realm of object orient programming. The book is written in simple terms, not like an IBM manual. There was almost always examples. So, if you didn't understand the text explanation, there was a short example. I like short examples, not examples that run on for pages. I studied this book on my own without an instructor.
At this point I understand syntax, but I feel I know nothing of object orient design. I understand mainframe design of application systems. But need to proceed to a second book, for the design concept in this realm of object orient programming.
This was an excellent first book for me.
Rating:
Summary: okay for beginners
Review: This is not a bad book. It's a good introduction to C++ for C programmers, and it covers most of the important concepts. But if you go far in C++ you'll quickly grow out of this book, which leaves out some important concepts such as initialization lists. It's not a bad place to start, but don't expect this to be the only C++ book you'll need.
Rating:
Summary: Missing Essential Pieces
Review: Fair at best. As noted by others, no exercises to work through. Weak as a reference. Some seriously poor examples, eg using gets() which is a horriblely unsecure function and is depricated or will generate warnings in many compilers. Also ignores portability issues, telling users to take advantage of any compiler-specific library functions, regardless of whether or not they're available on other platforms. I bought this in order to brush up on C++ and wish I'd gotten something else.
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