C++ Without Fear : A Beginner's Guide That Makes You Feel Smart

Rating:
Summary: An old excuse rehashed.
Review: Brian Overland, C++ Without Fear (Prentice Hall, 2004)

I have commented on it before, and I will no doubt comment on it again. Second to "if it saves just one," "beyond the scope of this book" is the most offensive phrase in the English language. It is a phrase that seems to be especially epidemic among those who write and publish computer books. Why is nothing beyond the scope of, say, a biography (especially one written by Kitty Kelley)? Or beyond the scope of larger, thicker computer books? I don't have an answer. Neither do most of the computer book authors and publishers I've talked to (the ones who don't use the phrase. The others don't seem to like to talk much). Lynn Harrison, in his introductory book on 3D Game Engine Design, hints at a probable reason: if it's "beyond the scope of this book," the publisher can get another fifty bucks out of you when the author writes the next book.

The main problem with C++ Without Fear, as it is with a few other books I've reviewed, is that one of those things beyond the scope of the book is Windows programming. Hey, you, computer publishers: listen, and listen well. It's 2004. Over half the people who buy your books are going to be native Windows programmers. 99% of them (excluding a few diehard Unix shell holdouts) are going to be programming in an operating system that supports a graphic interface, be it Windows, Xwindows, Mac, what have you. Not taking GUI programming into account is ludicrous; saying it's "beyond the scope of this book" is silly. We have thousands of examples of books of the same basic length of which graphics programming was not beyond the scope. We know it's a cop-out, and we recognize it as a cop-out.

That said, the rest of the book works very well. Overland writes in an accessible, engaging tone that does a good job of demystifying some of the more complex pieces of C++ (and is even a worthwhile reference for C++ programmers who have moved into the .NET world; the way Overland explains some things will make concepts clearer in C#, for example Interfaces and Delegates). Each of his examples is thoroughly dissected, so that even the beginnerest of beginners can figure out what he's on about. He even manages to draw the distinction between pointers and reference types with greater clarity than I have ever seen in a C++ book (and I've read a lot of them).

All that's missing is, well, the Windows. I'd speculate on whether Overland is one of those diehard Unix shell guys, but that's beyond the scope of this review. ** ½

Rating:
Summary: I'm a authorized translator of this book.
Review: But where can I report some error of this book?

type: program bug.
page: 58
description:
This program(prime1.cpp) contains a bug:

If you input number 1, and it report "Number is prime."

Please email me a revised version.



Rating:
Summary: Usefull book content, but issues with CD content
Review: I am a digital/fx artist, and wanted to actually advance my skills in computer graphics. What I learned is many scripting and expression languages in animation software packages are derived heavily from C and C++ languages. Hence my interest to learn about C++.

If you are a newbie to programming, specifically C++, then this may be a helpfull book. It is not meant to be an endall intro book to C++, but it does explane the basic logics in C++ fairly well. It includes decent diagrams, which are helpfull for those who tend to be more visual.

That said, the accompanying CD has issues with labeling where the solutions to the exercises in the book do not match...kinda confusing. In addition, so far, few of the samples seem to be buggy with syntax errors.

Rating:
Summary: Very do-able tasks
Review: Overland certainly doesn't waste any time. In his preface, he offers that shortly into Chapter 1, you will be writing your first program. Granted, it just prints something on the screen. But you get to do a full loop of writing, compiling and running. An approach I heartily concur with. It helps build up your confidence in yourself. By sticking to this method throughout the book, Overland keeps you motivated. No small thing, especially if you want to use this book outside a ickly get to showing you how to write complete programs, without having to know most of the C++ syntax. Indeed, classroom, where no one is telling you to keep going.

Think of the book as offering a continual stream of deliverables to you.

He steers away from advanced topics like templates and the Standard Template Library. These are vital. But later. Nor does he discuss "union". Not an advanced topic. But it tends to be so little used that he found he can reduce conceptual clutter by omitting it.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best C++ introduction
Review: People have asked me about how to get into software engineering. I tell them to start with a language like Perl or Basic, and they just shake their head because they see that the money is in C++, C# or Java. The reason that I try to push people towards languages like Perl or Basic is that those languages allow you to concentrate on the logic of the program without worrying about the nitty-gritty mechanics of computers. I liken trying to learn programming through C++ to trying to learn how to ride a bike by learning how to smelt steel for the frame before you get on to building the bike you are going to learn on.

But, if you want to use C++ as your first language this is a reasonable book to start with. It has it's faults. The never references the colon syntax on constructors, which is important. And never touches on templates, which are very, very, important in modern C++. I don't think an introductory book should cover how to build templates, but there should be substantial content on the mechanics of templates and the Standard Template Library.

If you are thinking about this book you should seriously consider Thinking in C++ by Bruce Eckel. It's an excellent introduction that may not start with the absolute basics, but does provide an complete end-to-end introduction to C++ that includes templates.

Rating:
Summary: Great guide for newbies to C++ and programming in general...
Review: Prentice Hall sent me a review copy of C++ Without Fear by Brian Overland. Even though I'm not quite the target audience for the book, I must say I really like it.

Chapter list: Your First C++ Programs; Decisions, Decisions; The Handy, All-Purpose "for" Statement; Functions: Many Are Called; Arrays: We've Got Their Number; Pointers: Getting a Handle on Data; Strings: Analyzing the Text; Files: Electronic Storage; Some Advanced Programming Techniques; Getting Yourself Object Oriented; The Fraction Class; Constructors: If You Built It...; Operator Functions: Doing It with Class; What's "new": The StringParser Class; What's "this": The String Class; Inheritance: What a Legacy; Polymorphism: Object Independence; C++ Operators; Intrinsic Data Types; C++ Syntax Summary; ASCII Codes; Common Library Functions; Glossary of Terms; Index

The basic premise of this book is that if you're comfortable with a computer and can run programs like a word processor, you can learn C++ using this book. I'm not sure I'd recommend C++ to anyone as their first programming language. Still, you can figure that this book isn't going to try and cover every little esoteric point of the language. It covers the basic techniques and structure of C++, with copious examples and explanations. Each chapter has a number of example programs you can type in and run. After each example is a section called "How It Works" that takes an in-depth look at what is happening in the program. There are then exercises that allow you to take the basic program and concepts and expand your expertise. A few of the examples even have an optimization section where you learn how to modify the program to make it more efficient. And if you're thinking you have to buy a C++ compiler in order to run your programs, think again. The book comes with the GNU C++ freeware compiler, so you don't need anything beyond this book to get started.

Even though I have more experience in programming than the author assumes, I'm still not at all familiar with C++. Looking through this book, it has the type of style that I look for when I'm trying to learn a new skill. Approachable writing and explanations that don't assume I have a computer science degree and dream in code...

I like what the author and Prentice Hall have done with this title. If I ever free up the time to learn C++, this will be the book I'll pull off the shelf to get started.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Start for the Beginner
Review: There are many "beginner" books on C++, but many of them assume some proficiency in C or another programming language. If you're new to programming (or have some background in C) and want to learn C++, you will do well with this book. The author doesn't make you learn all the features and syntax of C++ before getting started. He starts you writing useful programs right away and explains how things work in simple language and with the help of very good illustrations. The book also focuses on the core language, the basics of C++ that will not only get you writing useful programs, but will prepare you well for the more advanced features that this book doesn't cover (templates, STL, generic programming). Don't have a compiler? The CD contains GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection C++ compiler. This compiler is standard for Linux and Mac OS X and is available free for MS Windows and many other computing environments. This book doesn't lock you in to writing Windows-only software. Overall this is a very good beginner book for learning C++. There may be more comprehensive books (Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in C++ is very good, but it comprises 2 volumes each with twice as many pages as this one.) but this one is a very good way to get your feet wet before going on to others.

Why should a beginner learn C++ instead of another language that is supposedly "easier" to learn or more popular? There are several good reasons, but here are a few: First, C++ isn't really that hard to learn. C++ was build upon the C language. It adds many advanced features to C and was first adopted by programmers who were already experts in C. For a long time it was thought that it was best to learn C first before moving on to C++. But that's just the C programmer's bias. Until recently, few people have taken the time to think about a beginner's approach to learning C++ directly. I'm glad to see that changing. Second, C++, in spite of all it's quirks, is probably the most powerful and versatile general purpose programming language. You can do anything with it. It supports 3 programming models (procedural, object-oriented, and generic programming). All have very useful applications. Finally, learning to program in C++ will get you closer to the machine than virtual machine languages like Java and C#. You'll learn more about how a real computer actually works while writing faster running programs in a high-level language. The C++ relationship to C is an asset, not a liability, since the C Standard Library and system APIs are ubiquitous. The C++ Language, and the compilers that support it, have continued to improve over the years and will continue to improve in the future. There's not a lot of industry hype behind C++ partly because many software companies and consultants make more money selling supporting software and services for Java and .Net. Time will tell how well these newer technologies really serve their early adopters. (The jury is still out, I think.) C++ is a good investment. There is quite a variety of open-source, free software libraries (including GUI programming) and software frameworks that support it. C++ isn't the only computer language you should learn, but it makes a very good foundation for learning others that may be more effective for certain kinds of applications.

Rating:
Summary: For the Complete Beginner Who Wants to Start with C++
Review: There are scads of books on programming C++. There are two things that make this one unique. First is that it really is intended for the complete beginner. Many, if not most of the other C++ books assume that you have some programming experience and that now you are just looking to brush up your skills on learning this new language. What I'm saying is that this book includes the first sixty or so pages that most computer books don't have. These are the pages that explain just what it is that you are trying to do. Second is that it includes a free C++ compiler. By including the compiler you have much greater assurance that the examples being discussed will really run.

What's really important in this kind of book is the writing style. It is so easy to get bogged down in the technical aspects that you tend to forget that the reason you're really there is to solve some kind of real world problem. The author is able to come up with example problems that are easy to see would be applicable in a variety of situations. He first discusses the problem, using real world terms, then goes on to the programming aspects.

As the sub-title says, this is indeed a beginner's guide that makes you feel smart.

Rating:
Summary: C++ Without Fear: A Beginner's Guide That Makes You Feel Sma
Review: This is a great book if you are looking to get into programming. It is very basic, and the author gives excellent examples, along with the, "How and Why" it works. Like all beginner Programming Books, you are led through the basics and you gain the gradual knowledge as you go. The author provides many sidebars, but not too many as to distract you, which are designed to give you the added knowledge of the language.

One of the nice things about this book is the easy to follow language the author uses to explain how to program in C++. I have read many C/C++ books over the years, and this has been by far, the easiest books to learn from.

This is by far the best programming book I have read to date, but there are a few shortcomings. The author included a free C++ compiler, GCC, but doesn't talk about how to compile on Linux or through the command line. This was the biggest drawback for me.

When the author gives the excercises to do, he usually gives the answer away when giving the excercise. I feel that many of these excercises would be best handled if the user had to look it up his or herself.

This is a great book for the novice, and yes, if you are just beginning, why would you need an IDE and graphics if you have never programmed before? Buy this book, you will not be disappointed.