C++ Programmer's Notebook: An Illustrated Quick Reference

Rating:
Summary: READ THIS
Review: I am so f***king tired of inaccurate reviews, it makes me sick to my stomach sometimes, u know had i not come across this book at my college library i would of actually gone with the negative reviews of this book, NOW let me actually say few things about it that are FAIR AND BALANCED.
1)BEST FUNCTION OF THIS BOOK: STUDY GUIDE, Letting u look up topics you don't quite understand but have done reading on in your textbook

2)use this book **WITH** a solid c++ textbook(get familiar with c++ syntax), personally it helped me grasp confusing concepts easier and faster, and it even allowed me TO BE ABLE to move ahead of what was being covered in class with confidence, THE CONCEPTS, not the applications of them, okay
***3)This book is not ideal for learning c++ from the scratch, but rather to give comprehension of c++ topics, right about the time u start scratching your head, meaning you've done some hardcore getting to know c++, late at night in your dorm room, personally it helped me A)get more out of the TEXT on the particular concept it the author was discussing B) so i could move on to the next topic in the text.

4)it wouldn't hurt to have it, if you're starting out in c++, especially in a computer science 101 course will that be/is taught in c++.

5) Once again, as i mentioned earlier, i came across this book, looking for a book to help me with my c++ studies, meaning, i had done a few chapters of reading, I ATLEAST KNEW WHAT FUNCTIONS WERE, IT GAVE ME A SOLID UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WRITING TO FUNCTIONS BY VALUE OR BY REFERENCE for example.

6) GET THE SECOND EDITION.

7) I'M SURE I DON'T HAVE TO TELL U THIS, BUT U BETTER BE READY TO SPEND SOME SERIOUS TIME IN THE COMPUTER LAB IF U PLAN ON GETTING ANYWHERE WITH C++, NO MATTER WHAT BOOK YOU'RE USING, PERIOD.

i've reapeated myself for a reason.

laterz and good luck.

Rating:
Summary: Potentially a GREAT book in it's next edition.
Review: I would have given this book 5 stars except it needs a little more attention to detail.

I was immediately offended by the preface's claim (p. xviii) of "C++ code ... shown in color" when in fact, there's no color anywhere in the book except on the cover. C++ code is, in fact, shown in bold print.

Syntax for main( ) should be, "int main( )" not ... "void main( )". This could be a result of bad timing. The C++ standard committee may not have established this syntax at the time of publication.

This book is a handy reference, lack of attention to detail aside.

If you're just learning C++, buy this book in addition to another text. I've tried Waite Group's interactive computer course "Master C++"(possibly out of print) and "C++ Primer Plus by Prata". They're good, but I'm still struggling to learn C++ on my own. Lafore's book, "C++ Interactive Course" is well reviewed. I'll try it next, though I believe the "interactive" portion of the title refers to "internet on-line" testing and help. "Master C++" was truly interactive. Your computer led you though writing actual code, a neat concept.

Rating:
Summary: Best C++ Book On The Market
Review: Interesting concept of explaining C++ through the use of diagrams and pointers to code segments. Really useful I must admit despite what others say.

Each area of C++ is concisely explained with examples on e next page. Great for QUICK references. HOWEVER, its filled with minor spelling errors.... this can be quite disappointing, but hey, its not that bad. What area of C++ is explained? Just the usual stuff, but nothing to do with library definitions, but more on e basic stuff like arrays, enums, OO and others.

Definitely a SHORT and QUICK reference book, but for such a thin book compared to the other massive volumes of C++ programming books out there... you might want to look else where. This book is definitely for BEGINNERS ONLY. But the minor errors might cause some confusion.....so watch out.

Rating:
Summary: Not a good C++ book...
Review: This book is a GREAT example of really bad C++. This is not a flame or an "out of place" accusation, it is plain truth. The C++ examples in this book are very, very bad C++. They absolutely should not be used or taught to beginning C++ programmers. Buy this book to teach yourself and others what NOT to do in C++. Of course, there really IS NOT much C++ in this book. Rather, it consists mostly of C library functions and C "containers" and doesn't even once touch on the C++ standard library containers. In fact, the queue and stack used herein are NOT std::queue and std::stack (from the C++ standard library), rather, they are simple C implementations of these "containers," which have no intelligence (one of the important reasons why we use C++) to them at all.

For an example of just how bad the C++ is...

Keogh creates a "student" class that inherits from a class called "course." A student is a kind of a course? You would properly be able to use a student wherever a course was needed? This is one of the most common and blatant misuses of inheritance in any OO language, and the author exploits it to its fullest "potential" in this work. Similarly bad "logic" is used throughout the entire book. From a look at the TOC of the second edition, I can say that perhaps the author recognized some of the fatal flaws in this "work" and at least added a discussion of a copy constructor, exceptions and more "things you gotta know" if you're going to program using C++.

The author's "oversight" of anything representative of real C++ continues into chapter "Storing an Array of Objects on the Heap." As a C++ programmer, you might think that he really is talking about storing an array of Objects (not primative data types) on the heap using new and delete AND certainly NOT calloc/malloc and free! Looking further into it, we find that he is really using a standard C function call to calloc() to zerio initialize a char pointer then uses another standard C function call gets() to fill the memory at the address of the char pointer. Of course, this is just fine for C, but where is the new operator?! If you're really going to title a book using "C++," one might think that there would actually be something relevant to the way things are actually done in C++ and not just a rehashing of C. The absurd use of the mentioned chapter title suggests C++ and the contents further mislead by containing absolutely NO C++ at all! None! De Nada! In fact, the #include directives use only standard C library functions!

You wouldn't think that an example of The Bubble Sort would be found in a C++ "programmer's notebook." Perhaps a discussion of iterators and algorithms...but, like the rest of the C-specific content of this book, you'll also find a Linked List and NOT a std::list. Even though copyrighted in 1997, there is no excuse for such poor C++ coverage and the coverage that you do get is just plain wrong.

Rating:
Summary: Not a good C++ book...
Review: This book is a GREAT example of really bad C++. This is not a flame or an "out of place" accusation, it is plain truth. The C++ examples in this book are very, very bad C++. They absolutely should not be used or taught to beginning C++ programmers. Buy this book to teach yourself and others what NOT to do in C++. Of course, there really IS NOT much C++ in this book. Rather, it consists mostly of C library functions and C "containers" and doesn't even once touch on the C++ standard library containers. In fact, the queue and stack used herein are NOT std::queue and std::stack (from the C++ standard library), rather, they are simple C implementations of these "containers," which have no intelligence (one of the important reasons why we use C++) to them at all.

For an example of just how bad the C++ is...

Keogh creates a "student" class that inherits from a class called "course." A student is a kind of a course? You would properly be able to use a student wherever a course was needed? This is one of the most common and blatant misuses of inheritance in any OO language, and the author exploits it to its fullest "potential" in this work. Similarly bad "logic" is used throughout the entire book. From a look at the TOC of the second edition, I can say that perhaps the author recognized some of the fatal flaws in this "work" and at least added a discussion of a copy constructor, exceptions and more "things you gotta know" if you're going to program using C++.

The author's "oversight" of anything representative of real C++ continues into chapter "Storing an Array of Objects on the Heap." As a C++ programmer, you might think that he really is talking about storing an array of Objects (not primative data types) on the heap using new and delete AND certainly NOT calloc/malloc and free! Looking further into it, we find that he is really using a standard C function call to calloc() to zerio initialize a char pointer then uses another standard C function call gets() to fill the memory at the address of the char pointer. Of course, this is just fine for C, but where is the new operator?! If you're really going to title a book using "C++," one might think that there would actually be something relevant to the way things are actually done in C++ and not just a rehashing of C. The absurd use of the mentioned chapter title suggests C++ and the contents further mislead by containing absolutely NO C++ at all! None! De Nada! In fact, the #include directives use only standard C library functions!

You wouldn't think that an example of The Bubble Sort would be found in a C++ "programmer's notebook." Perhaps a discussion of iterators and algorithms...but, like the rest of the C-specific content of this book, you'll also find a Linked List and NOT a std::list. Even though copyrighted in 1997, there is no excuse for such poor C++ coverage and the coverage that you do get is just plain wrong.

Rating:
Summary: Best C++ Reference Book
Review: This is not a tutorial, but an excellent quick reference. You simply lookup the functionality that you need. The right hand page shows the functionality in short, working code. With notations by the author explaining the code and how each piece of the functions works. While the left hand page has a narrative about the callouts on the right hand side. The book is just what the title says a C++ Reference NoteBook.