Rating: 
Summary: Best introduction to C++ I've ever read
Review: I must say that I get a kick out of the number of people who trash Herb Schildt. Even in newsgroups, there are quite a few who say nothing but trash about him.I own about 12 of his books, and I have NEVER seen an author cover as much as him. In the front of virtually off of his books, he includes his office phone number to call him if you have any questions, or to order the source, although you can download it from osbornes site. I have never, ever seen another author do that. Most of the time you have to write to their agent or something. Personally, I do not care how many people might dislike Schildt. He is strictly the reason I now use C and C++. I have tried Tom Swan who is an excredibly poor teacher (only own one of his books), Microsoft books (do we need to go there?), Bjarne Stroupstup who makes no sense to me, Robert LaFore who's book Object Oriented Programming did NOT compile, and I have the exact same compiler he used, and many others. Herb Schildt's Teach Yourself books do two things that I have never seen another author fully explore. After each chapter, and sub-chapter, he gives you exercises. If you can't figure it out, the full source code is included. He gives excellent teaching and plenty of examples. I figure it this way: if everybody else wants to trash him, go right ahead. If he is such a horrible author, why have his books sold over 2 million copies? Forget what others have to say, try his books for yourself and make YOUR OWN decision. I reference his books CONSTANTLY. One thing to remember, his Teach Yourself books don't show you how to write large scale applications, but rather, teach you the language, so when you pick up another book to write a large program, you will know what the syntax is. This book has it all. C++ I/O, to classes, private/public/protected members, operator and function overloading, inheritance, constructors and destructors, and much more! Very well done! Try it for yourself. You've got nothing to lose. Just remember that you need to have the desire to learn. The book will not teach itself to you.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I ever found to learn C.
Review: I originally picked up the second edition of this book in early 1996. I was coming from Turbo Pascal, and needed an introductory too on C. Before this book I checked out a number of other C books from the library, and every one of them shared the same thing: they threw you right into a C program with little explanation. They did not start off basic. Every author expected you to know too much. Apparently they didn't realize they were writing a beginners book. Herb did it in a very unique way. He started by showing you how to use printf, then showed you a VERY basic (but complete) program structure. He keeps building on that, showing numerous examples, and giving you practices. The best part of that is that the entire code for the tests is in the back of the book. No other author I've seen gives you the source for everything. If it hadn't been for this book, I know I would not have learned C. I had given up on C because other authors did not explain things this clear. This book was the last one I read before I was ready to give up, and this is what got me started. Of course, everyone has their favorites, some like Teach Yourself, Absolutely Beginners Guide, etc, but this is the only book I've ever found that lives up to its name.
Rating: 
Summary: Most complete C tuition I've every received!
Review: I picked up the 2nd edition of this book in 1996 and turned straight to the section on 'pointers' because I was advised that this was a tricky concept of C to get to grips with. Most books mention pointers just in passing, but this book had a whole chapter dedicated to it. I selected the book on the strength of this (I had just started to understand pointers while I was still in the shop!), and sure enough the rest of the book, was clear, concise, a good balance between reading and actually hands-on programming and overall was the first (and only) book that didn't patronise my lack of programming skills. Highly recommended for both a beginner and for use as a reference!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for learning C on your own
Review: I taught myself C from the first edition of this book. It took me about two weeks full-time to work my way all the way through it, including working all of the exercises. When I was done, I was quite proficient at C. I still keep a copy close at hand for reference when I'm programming in C.
A word of caution: ... This book does NOT cover C++ -- only ANSI C. ...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for learning C on your own
Review: I taught myself C from the first edition of this book. It took me about two weeks full-time to work my way all the way through it, including working all of the exercises. When I was done, I was quite proficient at C. I still keep a copy close at hand for reference when I'm programming in C.
A word of caution: ... This book does NOT cover C++ -- only ANSI C. ...
Rating:
Summary: Good for Learning
Review: I used this book to learn C. Now I'm programming indie video games. I'd say it's pretty good.
Rating: 
Summary: Uses dangerous functions-no explanation of the "safe" way
Review: I'd like to follow up a review I wrote for this book. After participating in the comp.lang.learn.c-c++ and comp.lang.c I have learned that the real programming guru's consider all of Schildt's work to be very dangerous and in some cases very flawed. They all acknowledge his easy reading style, but his use of the gets() function for user input is *extremely* dangerous and should never be used according to the experts. They recommend KN King's C Introduction instead, for an author who uses ANSI compliant functions *and* uses examples that use portable code - code that is safe and usable no matter what compiler you run. Any questions about the value of Schildt's work, please ask in the newsgroups or better yet, do a search on the web for his name.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect for moving from C or basic C++ to an advanced level
Review: I'll be brief :
1)This book assumes you know how to program in C.
2)It introduces new C++ concepts and then tests you on them at the end of each chapter - what I like is, THERE ARE ANSWERS so you can check how you did.
3)It is a sequiential book - start at Chapter 1 and proceed from there unless you can answer the questions presented at the start of the chapter
4)Once you get to chapter 10 or so, you know enough to be able to read from other intermediate/advanced C++ texts. This is good because it helps you to perfect the concepts you really want to master.
5)Do not think that once you're done, you know everything about C++. C++ is a very vast language - you take what you need and master it when you need it.
6)When you're done with this book, keep this as a reference (it comes in handy to brush up those concepts) and then get an advanced C++ book (either reference or tutorial type).
7)The code for the examples is available from a website so you don't need to type it in if you don't want to.
8)The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because it does leave a few advanced concepts at the basic level. But then, if it didn't the chapters may be overwhelming.
9)This book is indispensable. It's beautifully written and has a more tutorial rather than textbook feel to it. Get it.
10) You may want to also get a book on the Standard Template Library - it will start where this book stops.
Rating:
Summary: Could be given 100 stars!
Review: If you know C, you will learn C++ effortlessly with this book. I spent innumerable hours on other C++ books without any clue as to what the hell OOP is, and still could not write a compilable C++ code. Then Schildt changed the situation with this book. Its unique mastery learning style enables you to build up C++ arsenal step by step without losing an overview of the language. Every feature of the language is presented clearly and concisely. Nothing is spared and nothing is wasted. It would be a book to win Nobel prize for literature had it been on humanity. I wish every author could write like Schildt.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST C++ BOOK EVER
Review: Ignore one or two stupid critics who have even gone so far as to claim Schildt's code is UNSAFE or UNSTRUCTURED, he presents the most amazingly structured code (conforming to the ANSI C++ standard that he helped create) in his endless and very useful examples while explaining C++ as no-one else can! If you want to learn C++ especially if you know already the rudiments of C, BUY THIS BOOK!
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