Learning Computer Programming (With CD-ROM; CyberRookies Series)

Rating:
Summary: Read this one first!
Review: After reading programming for dummies and learning an arcane language I was left wishing for a better book to expose me to the basics of programming. The subtitle of this book is "Its not about languages" and that is the approach of this book. Farrell focuses on the logic of programming and mentions the actual syntax in passing. This makes this book valuable and a helpful tool for all programmers no matter what their language destination is. I wish that I had read this book first!

Rating:
Summary: Good overview for beginners
Review: I bought this book as a refresher, since I had taken a programming class several years ago and wanted to re-learn the basic concepts. This book is good for doing just that. It will help a beginner get familiar with the concepts, and it goes easy on the more complex stuff. Anyone who is interested in programing but gets scared off by books that are hard to read should read this book first. It will lay a good foundation and make other books easier to read.

PROS: easy to read, use simple language.
CONS: author sometimes tries too hard to simplify explanations, some typos (a couple that will stop the code from compiling)

Overall, a good book. The cons, even the typos, are not that bad, you just need to be paying attention when you read.