Rating: 
Summary: Only buy if you want to learn the C++ Language...
Review: As most of the other people who reviewed this book have said DON'T BUY IT TO LEARN HOW TO CREATE WINDOWS APPLICATIONS. It only teaches you how to use the visual C++ program- it only gives you enough knowledge to be able to create and compile programs. It doesn't teach you the 'how' of creating windows applications, using MFC, using Winsock, using ActiveX etc. So what does it do? It attempts to teach the begginer to programming the C++ language. Part 2 of the book (part 1 teaches you how to compile and debug programs in VC++ 6, part 4 is really an appendix with a glossary and some help to fix common errors) makes a good effort at teaching C++. The author's sense of humour brings it down-to-earth enough to be readable without getting in the way too much. However I found that often they moved too fast. They explained the basic concepts well- by relating them to everday things it was easy to get your head around the concepts. The problem was that in some cases they moved too quickly over the practical implementation of these concepts- leaving the poor begginer programmer at the mercy of C++'s cryptic syntax. This happens a lot in Part 3 which teaches the concepts of object oriented programming in C++. The other problem was the jukebox application (the example program used throughout the book) began to get insanely complicated in part 3- giving the reader the urge to skip over it. This book will teach you C++ -if you put enough hard work into it-but to learn to make windows applications you will need to buy another book. It's probably more cost effective to get that Beggining Visual C++ 6 book by Ivor Horton that everyone goes on about which will teach you the whole lot in one go.
Rating: 
Summary: Though cliche, it's for dummies
Review: Even though it's cliche by saying a dummies book IS for dummies, I have to say this is the first book where I've felt that way. I read this cover to cover, and I found it to be useless. The first 9 chapters are essentially the only portion of the book that explains Visual C++ 6. If that isn't odd, this is: The first 9 chapters explain almost no programming--they explain the wizards that you can find in C++ compilers. They aren't teaching you anything, that I could find, and the programming they do mention is dove into suddenly, and they don't even tell you what the programming means. If you want to "learn" Visual C++ 6, I recommend a different book, unless you want your programming career to come directly from a Microsoft of Borland wizard.
Rating: 
Summary: Visual C++ 6 For Dummies
Review: I bought this book with the notion of learning Visual C++ 6.0 in my spare time. I was very disappointed. There are a lot of examples but some did not compile. I worked every example in the book but I do not see how some of these examples fit into the big picture. The book may have been better if the author had chosen 1 specific example and then built upon that example to give you a real-world application. The examples in each chapter had nothing to do with the examples in the chapters before it. The author just shows you several different ways to accomplice the same thing.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy C and C++ For Dummies Instead
Review: I completely agree with Ron F's review on this book. I already owned C and C++ for Dummies, and expected this book to take care of my "Visual" needs... as the title promised. The first part of their book skims over it, and then you never see it again. The authors teach you just enough to get Visual C++ to operate like the non-visual predecessors of long ago. I do feel the authors did do a good job writing the book, only the title is very misleading. I wish I had visited Amazon to read these reviews before buying the book. My bad.
Rating:
Summary: A good way to learn C++
Review: I knew how to write C, but not C++ or how to use Visual Studio. As said before, most of the book just makes console apps. But I did learn a lot, working through it, chapter by chapter, in only a month. I didn't think the OOP part was ... bad ... . But the next version could be stronger if the authors would introduce more of Microsoft's extensions. In all the Jukebox applications, the SongNames & ArtistListings have to be done without spaces because the authors didn't use the CString class.
Rating:
Summary: hope hes NOT a comedian at night
Review: Ok. i know its called "for dummies".... and i dint really consider myself one, until i dropped $29.99, but, i looked at the first few chapters, and it look OK.... I thought id get much more "Windows programming" out of it i got a bit tired of :
"see me feel me touch me print me..."
"smooth operator"
"holy debugger batman, it works... etc... A bit to bubble-gummy for me AND, as was mentioned before:
What About Windows ???? ... id didn't buy it Strickly for c++, it said "VISUAL c++"... maybe if it had been called "Visual c++ console apps", (which is what it is) i would have (should have), left it on the shelf.. maybe its my fault... i guess when i think visual c++, i think sdi, and mdi classes...OH... maybe i am a dummy, after all I was NOT amused, nor very happy...
Rating:
Summary: hope hes NOT a comedian at night
Review: Ok. i know its called "for dummies".... and i dint really consider myself one, until i dropped $29.99, but, i looked at the first few chapters, and it look OK.... I thought id get much more "Windows programming" out of it i got a bit tired of :
"see me feel me touch me print me..."
"smooth operator"
"holy debugger batman, it works... etc... A bit to bubble-gummy for me AND, as was mentioned before:
What About Windows ???? ... id didn't buy it Strickly for c++, it said "VISUAL c++"... maybe if it had been called "Visual c++ console apps", (which is what it is) i would have (should have), left it on the shelf.. maybe its my fault... i guess when i think visual c++, i think sdi, and mdi classes...OH... maybe i am a dummy, after all I was NOT amused, nor very happy...
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: The content of Visaul C++ 6 for Dummies is not exactly what I expected when I bought the book. I am pretty good with writing my own C++ applications and I was looking for something to help me get around Visual Studio. So I thought, "Why not get a Dummies book that would explain everything in plain English?" Boy, was I wrong. Now, I'm not going to trash the book. I highly recommend it for those of you who have never written C++ applications before. It explains everything from variable declarations to polymorphism. However, if you are the type of person who knows what polymorphism means, then this is not the book for you. With more than 41 chapters, only 9 focus solely on discussing the Visual C++ Developer's Studio, leaving 32 chapters of "How to write C++ code" for those of you who don't know how. I rate this book 2 stars because of this fact. The title should have been "C++ for Dummies--Using Visual C++ 6.0." If you are looking for a Dummies book that helps you out with this topic, then I suggest getting the Quick Reference. It's cheaper and focuses more on the environment (somewhat). Otherwise, if you are looking for a Visual C++ 6.0 book, do what the author says and get the Visaul C++ 6.0 Bible.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great.....
Review: This book is pretty good on C++ syntax, but doesn't do much on actually getting into the MFC and Windows programming side of things. I would highly recommend Sam's Teach Yourself Visual C++ 6.0 for learning the basics of MFC programming.
Rating:
Summary: Not too bad for supplemental reading
Review: This book takes the ever interesting and entertaining "for dummies" viewpoint and attempts to make Visual C++ 6.0 and OOP a bit easier to swallow. The book is broken up into 3 main sections, the first a rather handy guide to the many different menus and wizards that Visual C++ 6.0 has to offer. The second section is probably the best part for new programmers, offering good (albeit brief) examples of using C style programming. The writers decided to use an ever increasingly complex Jukebox program for their examples instead of the old and hackneyed "Hello World" programs. The code examples are well documented and the CD included with the book has all of the authors example code as well as some useful demo programs for C++ programmers. Section 3 would have to be the big letdown of the book. Section 3 discusses Object Oriented Programming, and while the authors explanations are clear enough, the authors introduce too much, too fast, which will end up bogging down new programmers in an object oriented nightmare. I do, however, recommend this book as a supplemental guide to new programmers, as the examples and simple language that the book is written in will help students understand the more complex ideals of C++.
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