<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: This is -- still -- the best book on STL
Review: The book is kinda old and slighty out of synch with the latest achievements of the C++ standard-makers. And yet! it is the best tutorial book on STL there is: no hype, lotsa code, good explanations. I keep using it and I'm very happy. The only worthy addition to it I'd like to mention is the "Cow" book by Koenig. Not one from among the latest flood of the stl books is even close to the usefulness of Mark Nelson's book--one can only wish he issued an update.
Rating: 
Summary: Good intro, lousy reference
Review: This book is very helpful for somebody familiar with C++ and wanting to start using the STL. It is clear and complete if you're willing to read each chapter end to end. But if you're reasonably familiar with STL's concepts, or comfortable with abstract container classes in general, this book will frustrate you to no end. The book could be very good if the "reference" section really was a reference, and not just a rehash of the description. Instead of just having lists of methods and descriptions of what they do, the reference is written in lengthy prose, and must be read sequentially in order to be understood. Rather than each entry standing on its own, method descriptions say "hardly any change from the similar method in the *blah* class." This makes looking up information extremely difficult. It was great to get me on my feet. Now I'm really sick of it.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the early batch of STL introductions
Review: Unlike some authors, Nelson doesn't oversell the STL or try to defend its most ill-advised features and peculiar terminology. He addresses the readers as respected colleagues with whom we wants to share some exciting information. The 21 chapters are orgazized into three main parts: I. Introducing the STL II. The essentials: containers, iterators, algorithms, functions. III. The public interface: reference information If you're a experienced C++ programmer, the first two parts are must reading. The third part is a bit too detailed and repetitive. The index is comprehensive, and definitions are provided for important terms (exception: "algorithm complexity" and O(n) notation, concepts well known to Computer Science majors but not to every practicing programmer).
Rating:
Summary: The best of the early batch of STL introductions
Review: Unlike some authors, Nelson doesn't oversell the STL or try to defend its most ill-advised features and peculiar terminology. He addresses the readers as respected colleagues with whom we wants to share some exciting information. The 21 chapters are orgazized into three main parts: I. Introducing the STL II. The essentials: containers, iterators, algorithms, functions. III. The public interface: reference information If you're a experienced C++ programmer, the first two parts are must reading. The third part is a bit too detailed and repetitive. The index is comprehensive, and definitions are provided for important terms (exception: "algorithm complexity" and O(n) notation, concepts well known to Computer Science majors but not to every practicing programmer).
<< 1 >>
| 
