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Rating: 
Summary: Fast paced Reading
Review: As the name suggests , it is a fast paced book with lots of code in it.Skimming through most of the pages will find you looking at code that is being generated by the IDE.There are some good example programs though..I don't recommend this book for beginners but for VC++ programmers who have to brush up their skills for project delivery the following Monday!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Zero Portability
Review: C++ is the language that even Windows is made. Thus, C++ is not easy, but very powerful. In this book no aspect of C++ programming is explored at all, nor the MFC, the tool to build Windows-based applications. What the author will do all way through is to show you how to use the Visual C++ Application Wizard. That's all (yes, thats *really* all). If you want to build VC++ App Wiz. apps for the rest of your life, OK, this book is fine. If you want to write powerful Windows-based applications, you won't find anything on this book.If you're not convinced yet, let me say that in the first chapters the author will introduce you to Visual C++ and then to App. Wiz. Now he will show you, til the end of the book, how to use App. Wiz. to build different types of applications. Of course you won't be able to do anything better than that: use the App. Wiz. You won't be programming C++. You will be just using that limited step-by-step procedure.
Rating: 
Summary: Should be called: "Learn Visual C++ Superficially"
Review: I am not saying this book covers everything in much depth, and it is a benefit if you have at least a basic understanding of C++ before picking it up. But I have tried Loads of C++ books, and none of them kept my interest, I got so bored of reading the same thing over and over and over again generally i just gave up. That didn't happen with this book, it jumps straight in covering topics at a good pace, with examples that illustrate the points well. Some of the programs it demos may be simple, but then how many C++ training books arn't. In fact that is not such a bad thing anyway as its better to keep things fairly simple when focusing on a new topic. The Book has 14 or so chapters, each chapter is clearly broken into 2 or 3 key topics, each with its own demonstration program. By the time you have gone through this book, navigating your way around the VC++ interface is second nature, and you feel confident to go out and experiment on your own, which ultimatly is the best way to learn, i am not sure I would have got that far without the help of this book. If your a begginer with a little background, and no patience to work through 500 pages of an author enjoying his own voice then BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Save the trees
Review: I have one year of C++ programming on UNIX machines under my belt. I doubt I would have had the same success without the experience, although, I did have to refresh a lot of topics, because I had not utilized my skills for some time. This book covered the very basics of C++ in one chapter. If you don't know C++, I would recommend finding another book on that subject first, then, when you are ready to learn Visual C++, buy this one. It covers enough information to get you started programming. I just started from the front to the back, followed all the examples and now I've written a relatively basic program that is in use at the University where I work. It might not be Office 97, but it serves its purpose, and I learned a whole lot more while I was in the process of writing the program using this book as a reference. I recommend it to anyone who doesn't have any Windows programming experience, or someone who wants to refresh on the basics. When you get it, don't just put it on your shelf and watch it collect dust, you have to do the examples. Then you can write a book review discussing YOUR first program. Lastly, the concept of the "In Record Time" series has so impressed me, that I have purchased the Visual Basic 6.0 book as well. Be looking for my review in a few weeks if you're interested in that one, too.
Rating:
Summary: So-so.
Review: The book spends a lot of time covering very specific examples, but fails to explain how they can be ported to very general applications. I picked it up hoping I could learn to produce a charting application. Indeed, I learned to generate and save graphics. Unfortunately, the book teaches me to save them in an obscure format that neither Jasc Paintshop Pro, Adobe Photoshop, nor any other graphics package will touch. This book is a very easy read, and it can be done in one day if you devote all your time to it. You have to stay on your toes with this book. The author covers things precisely once. When it comes time to do it again, you are expected to have learned it. This isn't so bad, since you can just flip back, and it serves as a mini-test. At the end of each chapter, there is an "Are you up to speed?" page, with a list of things you should have learned. Unfortunately, these are not test questions -- It just tells you what you should have learned, and expects you to know whether you really learned it or not. It's good for the bare fundamentals. Nothing more.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Starters
Review: There definitely isn't 604 pages' worth of solid data in the book. Over half of the book is dedicated to code dumps, much of which is wizard-generated. However, his is the only book I've seen yet that explained why the MFC wizard generated the files that appeared after I created an MFC project, and what each class' function was. It also was the only book that gave me reasons for why I should code what I did, and where I should put it, instead of merely telling me to type this here and that there, almost without explanation. This is a great starting book for people who know how to do OOP in C++, but don't know how to do Windows coding using Visual C++. After reading this, I went on to other, more comprehensive books and understood what those authors were discussing. I should have borrowed this from the library, because although it was helpful, it's not really all that great a reference to use in the future. There's a lot more to Windows programming and to Visual C++ than the MFC wizard, but understanding that limited topic is a great starting point.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent for beginners - Depend-On-Yourself Style !
Review: Well, I loved this book, Actually it is excellent for programmers who are familiar with the old C/C++ and want to catch up with the basics of Visual C++. The author's style is excellent because it makes you rely on yourself to remember the techniques learnt in pervious examples.. But I don't recommend it for professional programmers.
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