5 comments about The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference.

1. This is far and away one of the best written programming and reference books I have purchased in 20+ yrs of programming.
   
   It gives a perspective on state-of-the-art C++ style, language constructs, and technique that only a choice few people in the industry can offer. The book has all of the meticulous attention to detail and design formalities that one could expect of the finest academic.
   
   Bravo, Mr. Josuttis, and THANK YOU!



2. An excellent book. The only comment that I have that has not been covered is that you should know c++ templates to use this book... theres a problem with that, most if not all template books require you to know STL. You will have to read both in conjunction if you do not all ready know templates.
   Once you get past that little pit fall though, this book is invaluable to any c++ programmer.



3. The book is really perfect and is exactly I hoped.
   However, the main and only bad critic I want to highlight is the shipping.
   The package was very light and the book cover arrived damaged: the corner were maltreated.
   No really, only a box including 2 plastic bubbles is not serious and totally insufficient to correctly protect such kind of nice books.



4. Tutorial? Hardly. Reference? I can find better, more complete, and more accessible reference material in 10 seconds with google. Whenever I open this book to find information about some aspect of the STL, I end up googling for the same information a few minutes later.
   
   The examples are near useless. They are all minimal examples of basic functionality and offer no help in using the library for real-life tasks. They do show you which header files to include, which is a plus.
   
   Hash maps are completely left out of the book. While not officially part of the stl, they are still a significant part of it, and one that requires more explaining than the rest.
   
   I am to understand the +5 reviews were because there are no better books on this subject, similarily my +2 review is because there are not enough negative reviews of this book.



5. This book was delivered to me before time and also paid a decent price for it.

5 comments about The C++ Programming Language: Special Edition (3rd Edition).

1. I believe its a great book, but not for beginners. Great concepts, of course from the designer of C++.



2. The C++ Programming Language is by far the best book I own. I love C++ and use it everyday. I've written video games using C++, written my own MP3 player, my own HTTP server, my own SSL implementation for Verifone terminals, hundreds of components... Countless amounts of software on Mac OS, Windows, FreeBSD/Linux, and embedded systems. Every time I had a problem and needed help this book was there to tell me how the language works. I have made a lot of money because of this book and it has shaped my career. Being an awesome C++ programmer will make you shine when it comes to newer languages / frameworks like .NET because of the fundamentals you'll learn.
   
   This is not a book for new people, although if you are learning and have questions, this book will answer them. It's a reference manual. Also, considering how programmers judge code aesthetically, Bjarne's advice columns at the end of each chapter are great for polishing up and building your own style.
   
   Make sure you get the hardcover version because it's worth it. It has built in bookmarks for your favorite sections.



3. If you are serious about learning C++ you really need to own this book.
   
   While I probably wouldn't recommend this as a "first book" to learn any programming language it is definitely one that you should keep around as a reference. If you pick up a lesser C++ book like C++ for Dummies, Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days (5th Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself), or Beginning C ++ Through Game Programming, Second Edition you'll want to hang on to this one to clarify any ambiguity.
   If you've used C++ and just need a reference this book will definitely help out.
   
   This is hands-down the best C++ book for anyone who really wants to use C++, it will take you through all of the features of the language and not only explain what each feature is for, but also why it was included, and the best way to use it.
   
   I hope I'm not being too repetitive, but BUY THIS BOOK.



4. Bought this as a gift for my computer programmer son. He reads from it daily, with the intention of finishing cover to cover. He is extremely pleased with the content.



5. A difficult book for beginners. Beginners would moan and complain about how messed up the content is. They would then give 1 star/2stars for this book, while crying, HARD HARD HARD, and stupid!!.
   
   This book is a great summary for the whole classic C++ programming language. One of the hardest books to master. However if you understand this book, it means you are few steps away from being the Einstein of C++ programming language.

5 comments about iPhone Open Application Development: Write Native Objective-C Applications for the iPhone.

1. For those people who have dabbled in both the open toolchain (open iPhone development) and will be using the official SDK, I would highly recommend this book.
   
   The book doesn't differ as greatly from the SDK as people are reporting. I won't bore with details, but an example of what I mean: I personally ported an open sourced 'Toolchain' application over to the official iPhone Development Environment inside Xcode. Once there, it took approximately 4 hours and the changing of MAYBE 20-30 method and class names to get the app up and running inside the Aspen simulator.
   
   With this in mind, and with the very miniscule chance that the iPhone Open Development Community is going anywhere, I would say that this book holds more relevance to the current SDK than most people believe. This book is essential for a TRUE understanding of coding on the iPhone platform, and the readers can decide for themselves whether to code using the open toolchain or the official SDK.



2. The biggest problem with this book is that it addresses programming for the 1.1.4 iPhone firmware and was written prior to the official iPhone SDK being released. As a result it is already outdated with respect to many of the frameworks and APIs that aren't available in the official 1.2/2.0 firmware release and will most likely also be outdated in terms of the open toolchain, which is already changing to adapt to the SDK. So while the book has been helpful for me in getting up to speed with iPhone development pre-SDK (I have a draft PDF from O'Reilly), it is of little to no use now given the resources Apple has already made available for free at the iPhone Dev Center.



3. As a programmer who creates interactive demos for visions of the future, it is very important for me to be on the bleeding edge of mobile and multimedia technologies. Such technologies include the release of Flash player 9.0.115.0 (with HD support), Flash Lite 3.0, Flash Media Server 3 (ActionScript has been key for me in its portability), and lately the iPhone open toolchain (due to the coolness factor of the iPhone).
   
   When it comes to the Mac platform, I've only just begun getting my hands dirty. I got my first Mac a year ago and was surprised with the ease in which I was able to get started with the toolchain from the instructions in this book. The setup was extremely easy, but the most benefit of this book comes from chapter 3, which describes UIKit, the framework which handles most of the UI elements on the iPhone. This chapter was incredibly descriptive and helped me to better visualize how my app is put together.
   
   For a programmer who needs to be able to get things done yesterday, this book really helped me earn a lot of brownie points at work. Coupled with the helpful nature of the author (who is available via IRC), I find this book an excellent resource.



4. I returned this book, since I bought it after Apple's iPhone SDK was released, I assumed that would be the topic of the book. This book is for the development of Jailbroken iPhones. I'm sure I would have learned quite a bit from reading this book, but I'm just more interested in using Apple's official SDK, since my iPhone is no longer Jailbroken and I don't plan on Jailbreaking again.



5. iPhone Open Application Development is meant for hard core developers.
   The writing style is very concise and to the point, not much BS. If you don't understand certain parts of the book, you can always Google.
   
   I'm from Java background, but picking up Objective-C and trying out some samples in the book do not seem to be super difficult for me. I also got the toolchain built successfully by following the steps in the book, although there was one error in the LLVMOBJDIR setting but can you find the solution in iphone dev google group.
   
   You don't need to wait for Apple's official SDK 2.0 release in order to build iphone applications. And the most important thing is: you can run your application on your iphone w/o bricking it (as comparing to what Apple's beta SDK will do to you). And it's totally FREE!
   
   Highly recommend this book to any serious iPhone/iPod touch developers.
   The samples in the book along can last for quite a long time.

3 comments about Windows via C/C++ (Pro - Developer).

1. I like 5th edition of this famous book. They returned I/O part that was not present in the 4th edition. The book has all updates for Windows Vista new API features. This book is worth reading even for advanced developers.
   
   What I don't like about this book is its size: because of thick paper the book is huge and it is hard to carry it around. Unfortunately, all Microsoft Press books suffer from this.
   
   Also the book is missing information about in what version of Windows different API first appeared. Now the book says most of the time that API is supported on Windows Vista. I would also like to see it directly in the book whether the function is supported in Windows CE.



2. I'm a beginner in Windows programming and I'm glad I've found this book. I like how it focuses on "whys" and the correct usage of the described system elements. The authors also give enough details about specific APIs so, if reading for an intro, it's possible to follow without having MSDN handy. The code samples are very helpful, especially the mini-applications. The book doesn't concentrate on diagnostics/debugging though, you'd need some other volume for that.



3. This is a comprehensive source for learning the inner working of the Windows. If you say i know Windows programming, i want to hear it from you again after reading it. Excellent. Must have in a bookshelf...

5 comments about Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs (3rd Edition) (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series).

1. By far one of the best books I own. It really is a must-have.



2. This is a great book which covers a lot of useful topics for every C++ professional. I have been programming in C++ for a while so some of the topics Scott Mayers discussed were already familiar but I still picked up a lot from this book. From a beginner to intermediate programmer, this is a must have. Advanced programmers probably have this book already (or its previous editions). Otherwise, if you bought this in order to learn something new then you are not really "advanced", are you?
   
   This book assumes that you already used C++ and understand its fundamentals. Scott's goal is not to teach the fundamentals but to advice readers on how to use the language effectively - generating good, efficient, re-usable, portable code. On this goal, he was successful. Its pretty much like when I was learning Japanese. I understood the fundamentals and word translations but in order to effectively communicate in that language, I had to be familiar with proper sentence construction, various formalities (some words are not appropriate for certain settings or people) and word dynamics as well. In a sense, this book (or Scott) is your sensei to good C++ programming.
   
   Some more suggested reading to complement Scott Mayer's series:
   Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series)
   and
   Modern C++ Design: Generic Programming and Design Patterns Applied (C++ In-Depth Series)



3. A good book in an informal language to take a look at the most importance topics to avoid many common errors during the programming in C++. Widely used in the industry.



4. Is this a great book? I have been asking myself that question ever since I found out that Scott Meyers does not write (or has not written for a long time) production code in C++. With that said, book is a great theoretical treatise on how to make your C++ code better but it is not a "cookbook" which will be immediately useful in day to day tasks. This is not necessarily a bad thing; such approach will encourage deeper understanding of issues at hand and that will lead to better code.



5. This book must be required reading for anyone developing in C++. I count this book as essential as Bjarne Stroustrup's "The C++ Programming Language"; these two books are a necessity.
   
   Mr. Stroustrup's book could be considered a technical reference to the C++ language. This book I consider as a technical reference for how to use the C++ language.
   
   The book was well written. I found the book to be easy to read and the index to be exhaustive enough for the book to be used as a quick reference.

4 comments about Ivor Horton's Beginning Visual C++ 2008.

1. I was not prepared for the extra cost of Microsoft's Visual Studio 2008 Standard, Professional or Team Edition in order to use Ivor Horton's Beginning Visual C++ 2008. It would have been nice to have been informed before making the purchase that Microsoft Visual C++ Express Edition was not sufficient to work through this "beginners" book. Although I have no real problem with them requiring a certain IDE, I had only found out about this added expense while reading the books introductory pages. Perhaps this could have been displayed on the BACK COVER where it indicates "Who this book is for". Had this book NOT been titled "BEGINNING Visual C++", it may have been obvious that some initial investment in another IDE would be expected in order to work through the examples contained therein. I think it's a lot to assume that people who are in fact "BEGINNING" programming in visual C++ really desire to go out and spend extra money for an IDE they may decide to not continue using. In retrospect, serious programmers who may have already purchased an IDE would not likely be pursuing a BEGINNER's C++ book. Then again, perhaps some might. This book was written on the assumption of no previous programming experience, ( "No prior experience of any programming language is assumed" - written on the back cover). The unexpected investment of money in an IDE just to follow examples in a beginner's book can be quite inconvenient at best especially at a beginning level where someone is just starting out. A person may decide after several chapters of studying that programming is just not for them and give it up. In any event, and in all fairness, this information should be indicated on the book cover with the rest of the advertising so consumers may make an educated decision.
   
   In addition to this, I am not content with how some of the content is explained. There are certain topics which are covered in better detail than others. The chapter on DLL's is one particular area where I wanted to learn a bit more in depth information, (This was one of the main reasons that I purchased this book). I was left hanging with relevant questions due to lack of information on this important subject. This is definitely a book that I wish I had not purchased.



2. I have used Ivor Horton's books on Visual C++ since Beginning Visual C++ 4 and this latest book conforms to the very high standard set by the previous books.
   
   First of all, the book is written for the IDE(s) provided and not the other way round. This book covers the ISO/ANSI standard C++ and the Microsoft extension C++/CLI, together with the Standard Template Library, in the first 11 chapters. Windows Programming is introduced in Chapter 12 and covers both MFC and Windows Forms.
   
   Now, if you want to go down the traditional game Programming route, then Win32 and Standard C++ is what you will need, together with DirectX or OpenGL at a later stage. The book covers all the C++ you will need for that. However, should you want something for business applications, together with a graphics capability and a rich GUI, then that is covered also with Windows Forms and, although I have never used it, presumably Visual Studio Express is perfectly adequate for this exercise.
   
   A problem emerges if you have used and want to continue using MFC, since these classes are not part of the Express version. Presumably, Microsoft considered that those who would want to use MFC have done so in previous versions of Visual Studio and would simply upgrade to, at least, the 2008 Standard version.
   
   The fact remains, however, that this book covers Windows Forms, and all that you could do with the MFC can be done as well, if not a lot better, with Forms. And since the Express version contains Windows Forms, it is difficult to imagine there being any problem with reaching project objectives.
   
   Having said that, I would like to conclude by saying that this is a truly excellent work, and it is very difficult to see how this beginning text could be improved upon, even by Wrox standards.



3. Any serious programming will require more than the free edition of C++! This is a great book to learn the language comprehensively from the bottom up - I have recommended it to several colleagues and none of them have been disappointed to date - well done again Mr Horton...



4. Just read an interview with Bjarne Stroustrup, the inventor of C++, where he studiously avoided talking about C# as much as possible. Understandable, perhaps - in my opinion most (not all, but most) programming projects for Windows systems would benefit greatly from using C# instead of C++.
   
   Not that the above observation has anything to do with "Ivor Horton's Beginning Visual C++ 2008"; I just felt the urge to pass along that opinion in case the reader of this review has not yet decided whether to start learning C++ or C#.
   
   For those who are interested in learning C++ for use with Windows, I can recommend this book. It is well written and covers everything you need to know to get started. In fact, at 1356 pages (not 1392, as currently listed at Amazon) it covers much more than most people need to know.
   
   In Visual Studio 2005, and continuing in Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft introduced a new dialect of C++ called C++/CLI. The great advantage of C++/CLI is that it allows you to integrate "managed" programming (programs that run on the .Net Framework) and "unmanaged" or "native" programming. This is a unique ability of C++/CLI, and for this kind of programs C++/CLI can run circles around C#.
   
   Ivor Horton's book provides a good introduction to C++/CLI, with most chapters being divided into two parts; the first part about classical (ANSI/ISO) C++ and the second part about C++/CLI. However, as a beginner's book, it does not get into the really exciting managed/unmanaged "interop" parts of C++/CLI. For that you will need a more advanced book, for example Expert Visual C++/CLI: .NET for Visual C++ Programmers (Expert's Voice in .Net) - and some experience in creating both managed and unmanaged programs.
   
   On the other hand, if C++/CLI is of no interest to you, then you can easily ignore those parts of the book.
   
   Turning to more general comments, this book is well written and does a good job of describing all of the (sometimes messy) details about C++. There are many programming examples, all meticulously explained. The source code for the examples is available on the publisher's web site. There is even an online service - at one point I mistakenly thought I'd found a bug in one of the examples and I reported it as errata. In response I received a kind message from Mr. Horton himself telling me why I was wrong.
   
   I liked the occasionally humorous tone of the book too, and was especially intrigued by Mr. Horton's reference to a book called "Paneless Programming" from 1981.
   
   There are no major negative aspects, but I did find the fairly large number of typos somewhat irritating. Another surprising experience was that the index, although huge at 38 pages, was missing obvious entries such as "enum" and "typedef". Occasionally material was presented in a slightly illogical way, being (prematurely?) mentioned briefly in one chapter and then finally described properly in a later chapter.
   
   As mentioned by other reviewers, in order to do the MFC parts of the book you need to have access to one of the non-free versions of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008.
   
   This is a very good introductory book about C++ and C++/CLI for Visual Studio 2008.
   
   Rennie Petersen

5 comments about Agile Estimating and Planning (Robert C. Martin Series).

1. This Robert C. Martin Series text by Mike Cohn has been unfairly criticized by previous reviewers. The content in general is very well written, and the subject matter flows very well from topic to topic. In my opinion, there is some missing detail that could have served well those readers new to the topic of estimation. In light of this observation, I think that "Software Estimation - Demystifying the Black Art" (see my review for that work) can be seen as a companion text to "Agile Estimating and Planning". Mike Cohn simply focuses on agile projects, so if such projects are the primary focus of the reader, they might otherwise get caught up with detail that is not necessarily within their domain. From my experience, however, it will serve the agile practitioner well if they understand some of the theory behind the practice of general software project estimation. Of course, Mike Cohn also provides a considerable portion of the book to agile planning in general, and this topic is what makes the book unique in 2007. While other books of this genre can be expected in the near future, the seven parts of the discussion cover the subject matter well: "The Problem and the Goal", "Estimating Size", "Planning for Value", "Scheduling", "Tracking and Communicating", "Why Agile Planning Works", and "A Case Study". Each of these parts build upon its predecessors, finally culminating in a case study. I found especially valuable the discussions on agile planning in general, the different methods of agile estimating, how to prioritize deliverables, project schedule iterations, velocity, and tracking. Throughout the text, the author provides dozens of examples with just the right amount of tables and diagrams to aid the discussion. This book is a relatively easy read for a wide audience, and the quotes shared at the beginning of each of the chapters provide a humorous (although usually unintentional), realistic look at the philosophy of estimating and planning by individuals not in the software industry. My favorite quotes of the lot: "Planning is everything. Plans are nothing."; "A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week."; "In a good shoe, I wear a size six, but a seven feels so good, I buy a size eight."; "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future."; "There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about."; "It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong."; "To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous.".



2. This book presents a pseudo-quantitative method for estimation for so-called agile development. Cohn suggests subjectively estimating relative size of user stories on some arbitrary scale (within one order of magnitude) in a round-table approach called Planning Poker. Getting input from key stakeholders is a good strategy....not only does it develop buy-in, it sets expectations and clearly defines the scope. However, caution must be taken when using Planning Poker; these roundrobin techniques are often used as a way of influencing a group to agree on a predetermined conclusion. In addition the team must guard against "Groupthink," where individuals intentionally conform to what they think will be the ultimate conclusion of the group as a whole. During this Poker process, Cohn suggests estimating relative sizes of user stories on a Fibonacci sequence scale (1, 2, 3, 5, and 8). The problem with using this--or any numeric scale--is that there is an inherent implication that the effort required to implement each User Story is proportionate to the scale. (I.e. a user story estimated at 8 Story Points will require 4x the effort of a User Story estimated at 2 Story Points). In estimation false precision is the enemy of accuracy. Any computational methods applied to these Story Points (such as the calculation of velocity, essentially a delivery rate, in terms of story points implemented per unit time) is much less valid than the number imply. Agile development is much more adaptive than waterfall and even more so than iterative. With its Timeboxed deliveries on the order of weeks (rather than months) and responsive nature with respect to requirements change, I can see how predicting this type of fluid development would certainly qualify as nontrivial.
   
   With that said, the advantage of relative size, according to Bozoki, is that very early on, estimates of relative sizes are more accurate than estimates of absolute sizes. Cohn's methods also leverage another fact of life: the Law of Large Numbers (LLN). The LLN provides a tendency for errors inherent in a bunch of small estimates (like User Stories) to cancel each other out to a limited extent.
   
   My primary concern with this method is that we have an qualitative method disguised as a quantitative method with out adequate consideration of estimate uncertainty/error propagation.



3. I've been doing scrum for quite a while and really appreciated this book as it is *not* specifically scrum and adds other very interesting techniques to use. My favorite is planning poker, which basically all my teams use now with great success.
   
   A must to round out your Agile understanding.



4. I have been acting as the Scrum master for my team for about 6 months. We have gotten pretty good at planning and executing an iteration at a time. Our customers have always wanted to see a longer-term plan. I've read several other books but none of them have come close to this one. It has been invaluable in helping us to prioritize, estimate, plan, and communicate several iterations in advance.



5. This book is a well written synopsis of how an agile methosology should work, with adhering to a hard and fast methodology ( be it XP or SCRUM or Crystal). I would recommend this book to anyone who is using or is planning to implement an Agile setup. This book shows that Agile, does not mean 'no' planning, far from it, but shows that estimating project size is key to delivering on time and what is expected.
   I recommend it to project managers and developers who are mature enough to understand that guess work makes everyone's job harder and that software is developed to support business needs that must lead to profit

5 comments about Programming in Objective-C (Developer's Library).

1. This is a great book if you want to learn objective-c 1.0 and are looking for a quick read. It assumes that you have no programming experience which makes it really easy and provides a good refresher on C based programming in case it has been a while for you.
   
   If you are looking for a book on the foundation framework with the intention of doing some programming on the Mac then look else where. This book does not cover the entire framework and its material is a little dated.
   
   !Take Note! This book covers objective-c 1.0 so it does not cover "properties" and "fast enumeration" which were the major features added to objective-c 2.0 which is the current version of objective-c.



2. As its title suggests, this is an introductory level book on Objective-C. The current interest on Objective-C application is mounting presumably due to the imminent release by Apple Inc. of the software developer's kit for the iphone and the ipod Touch. As a novice in computer science (I actually had taken a 101 on BASIC in early college years), I found this book to be extremely appropriate for anyone who is looking for an introduction course in Objective C. The book is very well organized. It stages itself well in the early chapters with simple examples of computer coding. Progressively, the author guides the readers to the relevance of some of these examples to the idea of object oriented programming (OOP). Throughout the book, it delivers coherently the concept of OOP and its potential advantages over typical non-object oriented programming. The pacing of the book is such that readers at the introductory level feel invited, rather than intimidated, to continue the learning process. I enjoy reading this book tremendously.



3. This book is useful for any Mac OS X developers who just started to make programs for this platform.
   It not only teaches Objective-C, but also the programming basics, and the use of the base collections of the Foundation Framework.



4. This book is best for those new to Object-Oriented programming who want to learn Objective C. It is less useful to those who want a solid understanding of programming technique and OO design, as it tends to skim over both. It is also less useful to experienced programmers who want to switch to Objective C, as it spends many pages interweaving basic concepts with those specific to Objective C.
   
   For programmers of several years, I recommend looking for a terser book. For new programmers, I recommend considering picking up an intro to programming book instead of or in addition to this one.
   
   Also, this book tries to teach Objective C for all platforms, and as such spends its first hundred pages teaching memory management that appears to be at odds with Apple's preferred methods. Its second half teaches Apple's pre-Objective C 2.0 method (retaining and releasing), which as of 2007 has been somewhat displaced by garbage collection.



5. If you are beginning, and you have a little background of C, well this might be your book. Everything is very kindly explained just for beginners. But if you already know C and want to start from Objects and everything related with the Foundation framework, well you will see that half of the book is not for you. Because 300 pages are of C programming and not specifically of Objective-C programming.
   But the examples are very good, and if you forgot something you can find it very easy because is very well organized.
   As the super tiny title "Is an introduction."

5 comments about C Programming Language (2nd Edition) (Prentice Hall Software).

1. The Best book to start with. This was my first C Book. I still treasure it. One of the classics still floating around.



2. Everyone goes on about K&R ... God's of C etc. etc. Yes, they may have invented the language but you would think otherwise from reading this book.
   
   I programmed C for an embedded system for years and often sought answers about the very lowest level, nitty-gritty details of C. For a while I turned to this book, but soon learnt from experience that I could ALWAYS find the answer, or a better answer, in "C: A Reference Manual".
   
   This book was published in 1988 and is showing its age. It has not been updated with the latest ANSI/ISO standardizations. It is also very dated in it's layout, typography, approach etc.
   
   Summary: If you want the definitive C reference book, buy "C: A Reference Manual". It's not 1988 anymore - move on people!! Skip this book.



3. The "K & R", as it is widely known has a reputation of both being the pure encapsulation of and a terse discourse in the C Language. Both characterizations have equal merit. That being said, this shockingly succinct (at only 272 pages) publication is both tutorial and reference. In short, more of the "madness behind the method" is covered in this tome than the unwieldy but for some reason mandated college texts from the likes of Deitel or from the more cursory "Dummies" efforts. From the onset, the authors waste no time jumping into each concept with solid code examples. At first these may seem a little complex and in actuality they are--many of the standard library functions are stepped through to drive across such concepts. The authors preface with "C is not a big language", and that is true, however when one considers how the "B-52" of programming languages has been the linguistic basis for the more popular Java, C# and C++ (not to mention what for Ruby, Perl and Python are implemented in) the essence of this work by the authors of the language cannot be overstated. This is written with the student of the programming art in mind, whether at the collegiate or professional level. This should be a required introduction for Comp Sci or Engineering majors to that art, and every serious programming student or practitioner should own it. Given that it still holds its original value, chances are most do. Don't let the price fool you--The C Programming Language is worth its weight in gold!



4. This is THE definitive C language reference.
   
   I wouldn't want to try to learn to program in C from it unless I were already an experience programmer, and it isn't that useful for Windows programming, but this is the book that every experienced Unix C programmer has open on their desk.



5. This is the book to have on the C language. A great reference and a great read. This book has been very influential in the field of technical books, often imitated. I recommend it to beginners to advanced programmers.

5 comments about C++ Primer Plus (5th Edition).

1. I'm using this large blue book to teach myself the language and so far I think it is a good resource. The author assumes that you have no prior knowledge of programming. It has lots of examples with good step by step documentation describing what the example program is doing. There are also tons of nerd-friendly jokes. The learning is a bit slow if you read straight through without skipping around, but that's because the author gives you details such as when to use a particular function as opposed to another, potential pitfalls you can encounter and the differing ways you can do the same task. In short, using this book will take you longer to learn the language than it would if you used a shorter book, but it will make you a more knowledgeable programmer.



2. There are some really great C++ books out there but, in my opinion, this particular one deserves 10 stars. Do you want to learn to program in C++? Do you have little or no previous knowledge of the C++ language? Well then, I would highly recommend this book to you. It is very well written, has many relevant code examples, exercises and a wealth of thorough explanations to guide you through it all. The author does an excellent job with providing beginner friendly and thorough explanations. In addition to all this, the book is of excellent value for the money. I wish that I had known about this book much sooner! I struggled with a couple of other "catchy" C++ book titles out there that appeared promising. I was a bit reluctant to purchase this book at first so I checked out a lot of customer reviews. You know the rest. If I had only one book to recommend for beginners, and even those with previous knowledge in the C++ programming language, this book is indeed the ONE and ONLY. If I was able to rank it higher than 5 stars, I most certainly would have! Many thanks to Stephen Prata and whoever else contributed to this fine C++ programming book. Excellent work!



3. C++ Primer Plus (5th edition), by Stephen Prata, is an excellent book for learning the fundamentals of C++. It's practical, informative, easy, complete, and enjoyable!
   
   Here's an outstanding bonus you get: The author teaches you to program using the generic programming concept. In other words, the book shows you how to write C++ code that is portable (requires little to no modification to run on different operating systems); powerful (gets the job done error free); easy to maintain (spend your time designing and coding--not trouble shooting); and educational (gives you lessons in structrual and object-oriented programming methods).
   
   But that's not all!...
   
   The author demonstrates a genuine committment to developing your knowledge, skills, and abilities by providing background information on C++. In fact, the author even discusses the similarities and differences between C and C++ so you can better understanding the language.
   
   If you want a superb foundational education in C++; one that isn't intimidating; one that is useful; one that is fun, then this book is for you.
   
   Beyound a shadow of a doubt...I highly recommend this book to beginners and intermediate programmers. Even expert programmers unfamiliar with the generic programming concept will richly benefit! Finally, I highly suggest to teachers who teach C++ consider adapting this book for their programming course. Your students will praise you for your savvy decision!



4. I can't really say much about the Primer Plus books. Other than they are the best training texts ever written. This is the first C++ book I added to my library but have purchased others such as C/C#/Java2/vb.net They all stand out above the rest. Mainly because they are in depth and get the job done.
   
   Only cons would be it could use a little larger print. However, thats just me and my bad eyes!



5. I started first with "C Primer Plus, 5th Edition" by the same author and was already convinced about the quality of the information presented by Stephen Prata. This is why I had not doubts when I bought "C++ Primer Plus, 5th Edition" and, guess what ? Again, what an excellent book ! Well written, a lot of very useful examples, a lot of humor, as usual.
   
   If you already have a background in C, this book will be easiest to follow.
   However, some parts are more difficult to understand because of the complexity of C++. In my opinion, C++ is a complete different way of thinking, and not only because of the OOP.
   But do not panic, Stephen Prata is there and will present you complex functionnalities in a such way that you will get them rapidly !
   
   So, if you are looking for a quality book about C++, you have found it !