Problem Solving in C++: Including Breadth and Laboratories, Second Edition

Rating:
Summary: It's ok but...
Review: I've taught a college level "Fundamentals of Programming" course twice using this book. Each chapter has two parts. The first part is a not particularly well written description of the language or a topic such as binary numbers. The second part, the "Breadth" part, contains, historical, philosophical, or other material to expand the subject or to be the focus of discussions.

I would have much preferred using the Sams "Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days" for the language part and using the web to supply the material covered in the "Breadth" sections. The 21 Day book covers each language topic more thoroughly and in a more traditional order than Shiftlet's book.

We jokingly refer to the book as "Causing Problems in C++." Although I thought that Shiftlet's introduction of functions early on in the book was a good step, the organization of the book causes problems.

Two examples will suffice. The book uses the #include statement to include a local file, but this statement isn't explained until two chapters later. The first example of classes is unnecessarily complex and contains a method which yields an invalid result for the year 2000. The author planned it this way but the student won't find that out until many chapters later when the student has to rewrite that method to produce the correct result.

Looking for a good textbook? Keep looking.

Rating:
Summary: It's ok but...
Review: This book is an average introduction to the C programming language. While it is not terrible, there are certainly far better books available. I would recommend "The Art and Science of C" by Prof. Eric Roberts, as well as his follow-up, "Programming Abstractions in C." These books truly teach you efficient and effective program design, as well as discussing a variety of topics in a non-condescending yet easy-to-read manner.

Rating:
Summary: Decent, but nothing special
Review: This book is an average introduction to the C programming language. While it is not terrible, there are certainly far better books available. I would recommend "The Art and Science of C" by Prof. Eric Roberts, as well as his follow-up, "Programming Abstractions in C." These books truly teach you efficient and effective program design, as well as discussing a variety of topics in a non-condescending yet easy-to-read manner.