An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming in C++: With Applications in Computer Graphics

Rating:
Summary: Good book for scientific C++
Review: Despite its title, this book makes a great introduction to C++ for scientists and engineers who routinely deal with advanced mathematics. Development of the matrix and vector classes are a highlight of the book. As noted in other reviews, the author can take a basic idea for a class and embellish it, adding features and alternative implementations as he goes. At first this is disconcerting, but for readers desiring an in-depth look at various aspects of C++ user-defined classes, it is invaluable.

The author also defines his own complex number class. Although users of Visual Studio C++ can get by with the standard template implementation of 'complex', the development of a complex number class is a valuable scientific learning exercise.

I came to this text as a moderately experienced scientific programmer, and benefited from many aspects of the presentation. I was attracted to the mathematical developments described above and have used several of them in my own code. Readers who are scientifically inclined and frustrated with the mundane code examples in many introductory texts will take delight in this treatment. It is also a good companion to 'guru' texts such as Stroustrup's, which lay out the theoretical framework of C++ but are short on worked examples.

I'm sympathetic to readers who bought this text as an introduction and felt a bit bewildered. I agree, it's not well-suited to most novice programmers. To reach its ideal audience it needs to be retitled and marketed differently.

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy it for the graphics
Review: The book is very good for learning C++. One drawback though is that he bases many examples on earlier examples. That way it's hard to grab the book and open it up in the middle. Don't expect to learn much about graphics and absolutely don't buy the book for it. I haven't yet been able to understand that chapter. He introduce windows programming for the graphics without laying much of a foundation behind it.

But if you don't care about the graphics the book is great.

Rating:
Summary: This is a bad introductory C++ book
Review: This is a bad introductory C++ book. It does NOT have much
to do with Computer Graphics. Don't buy it either for computer
graphics or for learning C++ if you are a totally beginner.