Description:
Borland's C++ 5.0 Programming Starter Kit is a virtual compendium of C and C++ resources. The package is designed for anyone with between no C or C++ knowledge to an advanced-basic to intermediate level of programming understanding. Better yet, each component ties in with the others, making this a very useful package for getting a full education in the wonders of C++ in a step-by-step fashion. In your first step, tackle the hard-copy book Sams Teach Yourself C in 24 Hours, 2nd Edition, by Tony Zhang. By completing each one-hour lesson, and then subsequently performing the task using the C compiler CD, you'll be off to a great start toward C proficiency. The topics begin with "What is C?" and go through a variety of functions, characters, constants, variables, and more. You'll also learn to troubleshoot and debug your programs, discover pointers and arrays, and declare functions. Zhang wraps it all up with compiling your code, the nuts and bolts process of making your program a program. You'll also have the e-book C Primer Plus, by Stephen Prata, available to consult, which works as a great reference to complement your study of C. Next you can turn your attention to the two other e-books that are included: the conversational The Complete Idiot's Guide to C++ Sourcecode, by Paul Snaith, and reference-style C++ How To. The Idiot's Guide provides a lot of direction in the way of examples, but you'll find a scant amount of actual exercises for the student. You'll find that in C++ How To, which is arranged to support the learning that you've already done with 24 Hours, in that it's logically organized into topics: language topics, data structures, algorithms, memory management, and input/output. Each chapter begins with a list of "How do I ..." questions that allow for easy access. But this package isn't truly about the documentation: it's about actually working with the languages. Borland provides you with a C++ compiler (which, as all C++ compilers do, works to compile both C++ and C programs). What this means for you is that you can see the programs that you generate throughout your quest for C++ knowledge come to fruition in the DOS environment. And once you're ready to develop the hard-hitting questions and think about the issues surrounding the use of C and C++ in the real world, you can use the second disc's collection from Dr. Dobb's Journal, which spans from January 1988 to June 2000. This searchable resource allows you to reference articles from these issues, plus the Dr. Dobb's Sourcebook Series and previously unpublished source code, and also lets you copy code into your projects. --Emilie Dirks
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