5 comments about Visual C++6 for Dummies.

1. If you already know C++ and want to learn to make programs that run in the Windows GUI instead of a command line, this book DOES NOT cover that. The most advanced example program provided runs at a command line ! If I had known that, I would not have purchased this book. The book barely touches on menus, buttons, etc, and does not cover how to write a complete Windows program that uses the GUI.

   If you don't know C++ at all and want to learn it, this book has lots on C++, but there are much better books out there for learning C++. The coverage of C++ in this book is not sufficient to teach it to someone who is learning it for the first time.




2. This book is pretty good on C++ syntax, but doesn't do much on actually getting into the MFC and Windows programming side of things. I would highly recommend Sam's Teach Yourself Visual C++ 6.0 for learning the basics of MFC programming.



3. I bought this book with the notion of learning Visual C++ 6.0 in my spare time. I was very disappointed. There are a lot of examples but some did not compile. I worked every example in the book but I do not see how some of these examples fit into the big picture. The book may have been better if the author had chosen 1 specific example and then built upon that example to give you a real-world application. The examples in each chapter had nothing to do with the examples in the chapters before it. The author just shows you several different ways to accomplice the same thing.



4. This is undoubtedly the worst C++ book I have seen. It spends so much time being cute and funny (well TRYING to be funny) that it fails to teach the material. It is broken up into many little incomprehensible parts. Each part has a name that does not tell what it is about because the authors are trying to use silly little puns for titles. Nor does the order of the parts contribute to learning anything.
   After reading this (well trying to read it) I was more confused than when I started. Stay away from this one at all costs. A better choice is Beginning Visual C++ 6 by Ivor Horton.



5. Ok. i know its called "for dummies".... and i dint really consider myself one, until i dropped $29.99, but, i looked at the first few chapters, and it look OK.... I thought id get much more "Windows programming" out of it

   i got a bit tired of :
   "see me feel me touch me print me..."
   "smooth operator"
   "holy debugger batman, it works... etc...

   A bit to bubble-gummy for me AND, as was mentioned before:
   What About Windows ???? ... id didn't buy it Strickly for c++, it said "VISUAL c++"... maybe if it had been called "Visual c++ console apps", (which is what it is) i would have (should have), left it on the shelf.. maybe its my fault... i guess when i think visual c++, i think sdi, and mdi classes...OH... maybe i am a dummy, after all

   I was NOT amused, nor very happy...

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days (4th Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself...in 21 Days).

1. I'm not overstating my opinion of this book, but the "REAL GENIUS" of it is, the logical Output flow. With plently of whitespace which surrounds each line of code in all the chapters, the reader can visual see and compare what the compiler does with each line of code from all the illustrations given. The summaries are generally short, stating only the key modifications for each code illustrated. The code has been well groomed, almost perfect, except it's the level of difficulty which uncovers the C++ language. The authors have made this clear, but the "REAL GENIUS" of it still remains. The book is one of the best C++ titles I've read so far, I can't empathize this enough, try it out, it's worth a look!!



2. This book is a good starting point for people wanting to learn how to program. The book is neatly organize, but the File I/O section lacks examples and detail. Engineers wanting to program using this book might find this book lacking more information on the math library and functions (hardly any description on that at all).



3. Being an introductory book on such a big programming language as C++, it would be naive to expect an in-depth coverage within its scope. And yes, it has little flaws here and there like most academic books. I used a different text written for beginners but at the end of it I didn't feel quite as confident in pursuing more challenging reading as when I finished this one. This text offers a clear and easy-to-understand exposure of the language's basic topics, which are exemplified by the use of short code in order that the student can quickly grasp the concept and move on.
   If you are a novice to C++ and looking for a solid basis for further and more in-depth reading on this rather challenging language, I strongly recommend this text as your first contact with it, always keeping in mind though that there is always more to be learnt from other sources. It did work for me and I bet it will work for you!!



4. This is a book that begins FROM BEGINNING and continues with simple examples. Maybe some will say level is low, but if you know C, try this after C if you want to add obj oriented programming to your skills.



5. I really liked the first half of the book but then the last half was like a completely different book. He jumps right into pretty advanced stuff and it got confusing :/
   
   you will definitely need to take this one slow or read more books after this one to truly understand it.

5 comments about Practical .Net2 and C#2: Harness the Platform, the Language, the Framework.

1. I've been programming in C# for about two years now (and in C++ for about six years before that) and I learned a lot from this book. It contains much of what I've always wanted to really understand (CLR internals, non trivial C# tips...). It is difficult to put down and it will serve as an indispensable reference once you're done. Examples are helpful and I find myself consulting them several times a day at http://www.practicaldot.net/en2/SiteMap.htm. This goes onto my short list of "must have" .NET books for any serious programmer.



2. I am a MCAD developer, programming in C# for 3 years and yet found this book to be very useful. It has tons of useful code to study. I would highly recommend getting a copy for your own library.



3. The book covers a wide range of topics and gives an in-depth introduction to almost all aspects of .NET programming. And I was really impressed with the C# part. It was easy to understand, enjoyable to read and complete!



4. This book uses English words but it is written in some other language.



5. If you develop C# 2 applications this is one of the books to buy for your desk top library. In-depth on things such as asynchronous sockets, stream class the lot. If I can understand the content you will be able to.
   
   Worth every penny/cent.

5 comments about Fundamentals of Embedded Software: Where C and Assembly Meet.

1. There are two equally valid approaches to the art of "embedded systems programming", top down and bottom up. Those who choose to use the top down approach will often find themselves at a loss to understand essential items like system initialization and boot loaders. Many developers, who find themselves involved in the realm of embedded systems, have never been exposed to the required low level concepts of instruction architecture, addressing modes, and assembly level data manipulation instructions.
   This book provides a detailed discussion of these necessary low level topics as well as an excellent overview of the required elements of an embedded operating system. These elements include concurrency, scheduling, memory management, and shared memory.
   The book is definitely targeted at the undergraduate level and provides numerous excellent examples and excersizes for developing and testing the skills of the student. Teachers will find this a well written and useful text for a basic course in embedded software.
   While one may think that the exclusive use of X86 assembly and C is a bit restrictive, no one can deny it to be a convenience considering the ease of finding PC's.
   The book also includes a CD-Rom containing many useful tools and excersizes for students as well as developers.
   The author's excellent writing style should inspire him to consider a sequel to this book which addresses the top down approach to embedded software using UML tools as well as highlighting additional processors like ARM or Mips.



2. Put simply, this book is terrible. The lack of examples throughout the text keeps those without prior knowledge of the subject from fully grasping the concepts. Dr. Lewis failed miserably with this book. Please do not purchase it unless you would like very expensive fire wood.



3. I'm a Santa Clara University student, and I'm in the class taught by the author of this book. I'm an experienced programmer who knows PHP, ASP, Java, VBA, and some C and C++, and I must say, this book is very confusing to follow. It offers very little examples and explinations; the accompanied cd-rom doesn't make it easier at all. You won't be able to understand half the slides presented on it without him physically explanining it in front of you; even if you were in his presence, you'll still have a big ? mark on the top of your forehead. For those who enjoy the 'hello world' approach, don't bother with this book; the only words you'll be seeing in the end are 'hello class repeat'. I'm very sure there are other books than this that can teach assembly more fluently.



4. I have been teaching X86 assembly language for 6 years as an undergraduate course in Computer Engineering in San Jose State University. The students have been always concerned about the value of this course after graduation. Many have the false perception that learning assembly is no longer needed since most of our programming is done nowadays with high level languages. Last semester I introduced assembly language as a tool to program embedded systems and I used the first few chapters of this book to demonstrate to students the fact that 98% of processors sold are embedded. As a result, most students selected their class project based on one of the embedded examples shown in this book. For students who needed more X86 details, I referred them to a complementary text book. But, for those who needed to understand the fundamental link between c/C++ and assembly, this book was very helpful. I would recommend this book for Juniors or Seniors who would like to have a better understanding of the high level and assembly language interface. To maximize the effectiveness of this book, I recommend the use of more complex real-life design examples, the use of commercial Assemblers, and more emphasis needs to be given for embedding assembly into high level language and vice versa.



5. I love this book because:

   1- Very effective description on how to use C to interface to the Hardware environment that an embedded programmer has to deal with everday. Most of the book on C somehow just gloss over this area.

   2- A fundamental introduction to real time OS and its potential problems in an embedded systems. The readers might want to check out the book "An Embedded Software Primer" by David Simon for more detailed treatment on this subject.

   3- Its 11 programming excercices using the PC to practice what you learn in the book. This is very useful in building your confidence in the subject matters. You don't have to buy any kits to do the excercices.

   Here is the thing that might give you trouble: Intel Assembly language.

   This is a small book, 266 pages. It seems the author chose to trim down the section on Intel architecture & its assembly language to keep the book small. I went to the book website (this is another plus) and it looks like the author is using Intel manuals as the companion for this book to fill in the details on the Intel architecture.

   If you are a student, having to digest all of this materials (plus other classes) in one quarter, probably, you will have a hard time. However, if you just want to:

   1- know how to do embedded programming using C
   2- know how real time OS works and how to use it
   3- do some hands on excercises
   4- can afford to gloss over the Intel architecture and not worrying about the grade.

   then this book is for you

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself C# in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. I came to C# in 24 hours with a background in programming and management of the software development process. The book is easy to read, is well organized with helpful exercises for each hour (chapter). It contains essential information about the language that is missing from the core reference works. I will keep it on my bookshelf for ready reference.

   I asked James Foxall a few questions via email and he answered them promptly and with excellent care.




2. This is a very good book if you have no previous C# experience. I decided to read this book after reading Sams Teach Yourself C# in 21 Days and I found that all the programming concepts were review. I did like this book's focus on the Visual Studio .NET IDE and Windows forms, though. It shows you some basics on using list views, tree views, etc. which Teach Yourself C# in 21 Days completely skips. If you're looking for some simple Windows form concepts or if you're looking to learn C# with no programming experience, this is a good book, but people with C# experience and some Windows forms experience can definitely skip it.



3. Oh My God...
   This book is a giant read me for visual studio.
   It is impossible to read this book when you are anywhere but on your computer because everything you do involves using Visual Studio which the author annoyingly calls "C#" hence the book title.
   This book is of no value to people who want to learn ABOUT c# and is a waste of money.
   
   Buy Programming in the Key of C# if you want a good book for beginners.



4. Too much tutorial for VS.NET, not enough on C#. If you know something about C++, then steer clear from this book. It uses confusing terminology in wrong context. For instance they inaccurately refer to an "object of 'type'" as "Object derived from class". Derivation in OOP has a very different meaning. Also they repeatedly call a class as a "template" for an object. There are more similar confusing wordings and terminologies. I understand they wanted to be illustrative but IMHO they fell over the fence and rather confuse the reader.



5. I've read some of the reviews and I'm confused: why would you get a "learn blah blah blah in 24 hours" book and think you were going to learn C#? With '.Net' plainly written in the title, I knew exactly what I was going to get; a tutorial on learning Visual Studios .Net with C#. The book served it's purpose for me, now it's time to learn some in-depth C#. Definitely an excellent book for those who are familiar with OOP and want to learn what Visual Studios .Net has to offer.

5 comments about Visual C++.NET: How to Program.

1. Much like others have said he spent far too much time on areas in which are less important atleast in my eyes
   
   While this book gives you a basic understanding in VC++ I found that it spent far too much time in the commandline
   programing (MC++) when you could teach from the start learning doing it via text boxes/lables which would condence alot of the
   reading making it less balky. Over 1/3rd of the book was on MC++ commandline programming! This book was also intended for
   college courses and answers to the questions are not answered for those of us learning on our own which is a real downside
   and made me skip ALOT of the questions at the end of chapters.
   
   This book doesn't get into real detail about data structors which is an important aspect of programming in general which made me disapointed..
   
   As Jody Blau said:
   "Also, I found that its style of giving a few pages of code, followed by a few pages of explaining the code, could have been used much more effectively. Often the "explanations" involved simply stating "what" they did and not "why". "
   is So true.
   
   
   All in all I feel this book is alright but I'm sure theres better out there.



2. This book is a very nice choice for learning .NET 1.1 programming with C++, provided that you have enough knowledge of the C++ language itself (as always is the case when programming with C++ in some platform).



3. I found that this book gave me good general information on VC++.NET but not quite enough. When going through the book I tried to write the sample pieces of code as I was going and there was just not quite enough information on each of the samples for me to write it with out having to go and copy the code from the examples. Also it wasn't clear what the project settings should be set to. Eventually I figured them out but it just wasn't quite enough.
   
   I have been a C++/MFC Developer for 6 years and am finding the transition to .NET quite difficult. This book has not been the help that I was hoping for. I know the programming concepts but actually getting the proper syntax to work for simple things is taking quite a bit longer and the book does not have what I need.



4. I think this is a great book. I learn best in a "classroom" environment while doing lots of hands-on exercises. This book meets both of these needs. The material is presented in a logical manner that makes sense and the book is inundated with example code for hands-on work. When I received my book, there was some problems with some of the pages. I contacted the Deitel company and was impressed with how quickly and professionally they responded to my problem. When I have a need for books on programming, they will be the place I look first for resources.



5. I find Deitel to be a good author. I've used this book, C#, Visual Basics 6.0 and others. They are all well written and sometimes you can learn more from the Deitel book stand alone then in a college course. Note all Visual Microsoft software have free downloads.

5 comments about Applications Programming in C++.

1. I'm surprised by the negative reviews this book got. This book is excellent for beginner's level. That's why the professors of some of the reviewers below require it for the class. However, if you already know C, reading this book is like a breeze. It covers all fundamental C++ concepts with a style which is very easy to understand and graps. I have 4 books in C++ (including ones by Stroustrup, Lipman) and this book is the best for beginner's level.



2. I found this book well-written and illustrated. The person below who complained about the mathematical problem should probably reconsider programming if he/she doesn't understand the most basic summation notation. Anyone who has had the appropriate mathematics background to become a programmer will easily understand this book.



3. I learned C++ programming in five weeks just with this book. I got A+ in class. Those reviewers who have negative reviews on this book, is becuase they do not have programming skills or good math, Java, and C background.

   I recomend this book for these who have previous experience in programming and want to learn C++ independently.




4. I have a couple of Maths degrees and a professional IT background with a lot of Assembler coding (IBM mainframe) and wanted a book which would teach me C++ syntax quickly and without talking to me as though I had 3 brain cells. This met my needs perfectly. I found it clear, logical and easy to read, and the exercises brought out the points raised in the text. If you don't have a bit of Maths/IT background, this is probably not the right book for you, but for someone in the field wanting to learn the language with a minimum of fuss, it's great.



5. I've taken 2 Java courses as well as Pre-Calc, 2 Discrete Maths, and Calculus. To me this book is well written. The examples are easy to follow and clearly demonstrate use of code (if you know the basics).
   I would not recommend this if you have never taken programming before. At my university 2 semesters of programming are required before taking the C++ course that uses this book.

2 comments about C++: Memory First.

1. I am a professional software engineer specializing in C++, and am always looking for new ideas for efficient and maintainable memory management schemes. I went out on a limb and bought this book without having any reviews available on Amazon.
   
   I had high hopes for this book, but quickly upon skimming through it I discovered that the accuracy and general correctness of this book is quite lacking. Too many times I read a statement written by the authors and said to myself "well, that's not quite true" or "there are some important and relevant details they're leaving out here". The first clue something was awry was that the right-margin on the front cover is completely chopped off.
   
   To some extent, the title of the book is misleading. Even in the introduction they tout the book to be focused on memory management. Why, then, is there an entire chapter devoted to function pointers? The entire chapter seemed to be completely out of place in a memory management book. A couple other chapters are also of questionable relevance.
   
   One of the more misleading comments I found in this book is found in section 3.2.5: "Still, in C and C++, no constraint requires null to be represented by zero." However, in section 4.10 of the C++ Standard, it says "A null pointer constant is an integral constant expression (5.19) rvalue of integer type that evaluates to zero." A similar contradiction can be found in the C Standard.
   
   I was quite surprised to see nothing in the book relating to small object allocation, memory pools, or memory allocation in a multi-threaded environment. They do mention re-entrancy, but only from an extremely high-level academic perspective.
   
   As for the code examples, they're shockingly bad. They have an example code snippet of a function that takes an enum, and depending on the enum value will return a pointer to a different type. Sure, you can do it, but does an example like this belong in a "best practices" book?
   
   Also, several of their examples use std::cout. However, the authors apparently forgot to put a newline on any of their output statements. Quite an oversight!
   
   I saw another code example that declared a local variable without a type. Hmmm ...
   
   They also gave some examples of casting pointers of different types. For example, they cast a char* to an int*. However, they didn't mention anything about memory alignment. I pity the poor programmer that tries this and gets a nice bus error.
   
   In addition, the authors generally use C-style casts, which (in my opinion) is unacceptable in a "best practices" C++ book.
   
   Finally, a couple times they had function names with underscores. Sure, the functions in the library do it as well, but generally speaking its not considered to be proper C++-style.
   
   All in all, this book is far too misleading for a novice programmer, and far too lacking of real information for an experienced programmer. Don't waste your money!
   
   If you're looking for good books on "best practices" in C++, stick to the books by Sutter, Meyers, Alexandrescu, Lippman, and Dewhurst (probably in that order).



2. I've found this book to be an excellent refresher on C++ development. I normally develop in higher level languages such as C#, Java, Ruby, etc. at my day job but occasionally I need to fix a bug or add a feature to one of our legacy products that were written in C++ and I found this book very helpful in getting back up to speed on native development or for quickly referencing a specific topic. Despite the convenience of HL languages, they often require some C++ code to make a useful application in the real world - shims to startup the .NET runtime, creating or extending controls in other products like NSIS, etc. This book was very helpful when I had to do those sorts of things and I would highly recommend it.

5 comments about AI Application Programming (Programming Series) (Programming Series).

1. One of the challenges in learning AI are the foundational requirements in mathematics. This book provides an excellent introduction to AI, where the "hacker" or hobbyist can sit-down and be writing simple AI applications in the matter of minutes. If your looking for a practical hands-on AI book I would start here.



2. This book covers a good range of topics but fails to deliver the topics in a clear and concise manner. Not to mention there are many typos (including incorrect and incomplete equations). He also tries to give large examples where a small example would be more suitable. He also does not finish some of the examples (such as the A* method example).



3. It is the best introductory book on AI. As you can read from other reviewer's with low rating, it's not in depth. But if you know programming already, and want to know AI, this is a good start.



4. The code is fairly easy to read, and (to date) I have not found any errors in example code... but in terms of the author's ability to write properly, that's a whole different story. Formulas are missing halfs, inconsistencies in variable usage, it's seriously bad. Maybe I got a bad edition (didn't buy from Amazon), but it looks exactly like the one listed (softcover, 2nd ed)..
   
   If you're fairly proficient at C/C++ code, however, you should be able to follow the book ok... just expect to be reading more of the source code than the actual writing, half the time.
   
   It was a required textbook for a class.



5. It's just amazing how such a 473-page book could cover wide range of AI subjects, and at the same time could deliver easy-to-understand explanations without throwing PhD maths at you. It is just superb how a tech book with minimal math could explain everything!
   
   Every chapter covers one kind of AI, one or two real-world applications and a list of other applications. There're more than enough illustrations for people like me who hate text-only book. A picture is worth a thousand words buddy. Here's my list of AI fields I remembered from the book: Genetic Algorithm, Neural Network, Ant, Particle Swarm, Simulated Annealing, ALife, Pathfinding, A-Star, ATR1, Classifier systems, Rule-based Aystems, Agent-based Software, NLP, Bigram, and Fuzzy Logic.
   
   Examples are written in C language. Comments are plentiful. The codes, though short, pack a lot punches; a whole stack-only virtual machine (VM), for example, was written in less than 100 lines to illustrate how Genetic Algorithm works. Although I'm a VB.NET programmer, I could understand them quite easily.
   
   I recommend this book to any programmer who like to get a big picture of artificial intelligence, who doesn't know where to begin or which algorithm is the right choice. This book should be the first-to-read but not the last, because it touches not far from the surface. I'd say this is the best precursor.

5 comments about C Programming for the Absolute Beginner (For the Absolute Beginner (Series).).

1. Deftly written by software engineer and applications developer Michael Vine, C Programming For The Absolute Beginner truly lives up to its title. No previous familiarity with the art of computer programming is required to understand and learn from the lessons provided, all of which revolve around simple game creation in a learn-through-doing process. Basic C Programming tasks such as initializing variables, creating two-dimensional arrays, manipulating strings, and using compound if structures, are among the many core building block abilities taught by this superbly written and presented introductory guide. An accompanying CD contains a gcc C compiler and the Cygwin free UNIX shell makes Michael Vine's C Programming For The Absolute Beginner and absolute "must" for anyone wanting to learn C Programming from scratch.



2. The book is easy to follow, and can help a non-programmer pick up the basics. The problem is in the code examples. The code examples in this book all compile, and the binaries run, but if you enable warnings on your ANSI-compliant compiler before compiling any of this code, you will see a whole host of warnings and error messages. Don't think that you will learn C from this book and then go get a job somewhere as a C programmer. Your code will be as non-ANSI compliant as it could possibly be while still working. This makes it even more difficult if you progress to a more advanced C text after this, as you will likely have to go back and relearn quite a bit. I give it 5 stars for ease of use, but it loses 3 stars for not "teaching good programming practices" as it claims to on the cover.



3. I think C Programming for the absolute beginner is fairly well written and contains some good examples. The challenges aren't all games, and some of them will probably be uninteresting to the reader. It is the best book I've read so far for learning C, and would certainly recommend it to others who want to learn it as well.



4. If you have never programmed before, then this gentle introduction to C might be suitable for you. It explains the syntax. And how to code in a procedural, top-down manner. It also points out the advantages of designing for code reusability. Something that is probably not high on the awareness of a new programmer.
   
   You can learn the importance of flow charting. Why you should do this before coding. Time well spent, that can really help your program, instead of just winging it and pounding away at the keyboard.
   
   The book does have a drawback. The figures which are screen captures of terminal windows are blurry. A little offputting.



5. This is heavily focused on C programming in the Windows environment. The information is decent, but if you want to use Unix or Linux, etc., you will need something else to supplement.