5 comments about Java 2 and JavaScript for C and C++ (Programmers, Revised Edition).

1. The index is throughly useless, but otherwise the book is great. I gave it five stars because, for once, the examples really helped. He gives you a practical example of just about everything you could expect from a book of this size. Its easy to read - plus, its organized so you can skip sections you're not interested in and then later go back. I'd really like to see more books like this out there.



2. Read what I wrote about the previous, 1.2 edition here on Amazon. The book has not been changed much - it just has a new cover.

   What is missing from my review (the 1000-word limit has cut out the last 3000 words) is that the book is definitely NOT suited for a beginner. Just an example> check out the I/O and the AWT chapters. No beginner will understand them - even books like Lemay's Teach Yourself Java 2 in 21 Days are much more comprehensible.

   You can buy this book if you already know the language and are eager to discover the differences between C++ and Java (too bad only the first 4 chapters emphasize them, the other chapters spend NO words on C++ at all), you can give it a try. Or just get the previous (and, therefore, cheaper) edition, as it's alsmost the same as this one...




3. Although slightly thought provoking in its tactics, the main theses were misconstrued. There were many instances of erroneous teaching methods which led to unfavorable results. This book does have its bright sides, mainly pertaining to general layout of the book. The relation of Javascript to C++ makes the book very difficult to comprehend. Overall, as a Javascript programmer, I would not recommend this book to anyone.



4. I wanted a book that for an experienced C++ programmer that would not waste time teaching me what a class is, etc. It did that, but unfortunately covers waaaay to much ground to be really practical to learn how to actually write code without additional reference material.

   There are long coding examples presented with little explanation, which the reader is expected to spend hours deciphering and then say "voila, that's how it works."

   Major concepts lacking. For e.g, nowhere could I find an explanation of when you have to use "throws" in a declaration.

   The index is a joke. Try to look up Vector, implements, throws, Set...not there!




5. In the meantime, I've scrutinized the book more thoroughly. I've written the 1st review after comparing moslty the I/O and AWT chapters, the two being the worst of most Java books (and these two chapters are still as worse as they were in the 1998, Java 1.2 edition). As these chapters were similar to the previous edition, I thought the entire book is just a rehash too. However, other chapters are really updated, which I will also write about in the next review to be posted soon.

   Werner Zsolt.

1 comments about Detecting the World: Capturing Physical Measurements with C++ (Data Acquisition on the PC) (Data Acquisition on the PC).

1. This One of a kind resource tells you how to interface sensors of various kinds to the PC through the parallel port together with how to analyse and present the collected data. Includes discussion even about selecting power supplies for the job.

No comments about Starting Out with C++: Brief Version Update (4th Edition) (Gaddis Series).

5 comments about Introduction to C++.

1. Book is written in understandable language, with a very good explanation of the fundementals, prior to getting to the main body of the book.



2. The writing style of Mr. Heller is very engaging and makes the text fun to read. But there are several flaws in his approach. I used his book for an Intro to C++ college course and soon had to run out to a store for another book to complete my assignments. This book starts out nicely but before you know it, he is talking multi-file programs and complicated class header files, etc. This book might be suitable to someone who already knows C and whats to learn C++. Too many basic concepts are left out. One example is structures which will help in the understanding of classes. Finally, the comical chapter titles are fun to read but make it difficult to find again, material for reviewing later on. A title that might be better is by Robert LaFore -OOP in C++.



3. I will probably never write a program for anyone (other than to entertain myself) but learning at least the fundamentals of C++ has contributed immeasureably to my understanding of how computers do things, as well as increased my pleasure in computing. And, since I work very closely with IT, I have found it very useful to learn some C++ as well as some SQL.

   Among my favorite technology books are the programming guides by Steve Heller and include: "Who's Afraid of C++?"; "Who's Afraid of More C++?" and "The C++ Training Guide," as well as "Introduction to C++." His approach is for the complete, absolute novice--someone who has never programmed (most books want you to understand something about programming). In addition, the books all include C++ compliers and editors for free. Finally, they actually talk about HOW the computer does what it does with what you write so you can understand what to do in the odd situation.




4. I found this book exactly the same as all the other guides.
   Very good to start with then what the hell happend? Did I miss 2 chapters.Lately I have read quite a few guides and found them all the same. I always get the feeling I've missed something. Please can anyone suggest a book for the people who like to go on at a steady pace to understand C++.
   Thanks



5. It's tough balancing where to start, and how deep to go into a subject like C++ programming. This author balances that perfectly.
   
   If you're unlucky enough to have to learn C++, this is the book to start with.

2 comments about Practical Ray Tracing in C.

1. This book is a excellent source of information on Ray tracing. It is written to help novice as well as expert to sharpen their knowledge on the subject. I personally have gained a lot after reading this book which helped me professionally to implement HLR algorithm for my product.



2. This is a good book but just realize that its a bit dated and there may be better and more up to date books out there. If you can get this cheap then go ahead, otherwise, look for something more up to date.

No comments about C Database Development.

5 comments about C# and the .NET Platform.

1. This book is a good guide for someone who is looking for overall information on C# advanced topics and who wants to get advanced knowledge of C#.



2. A few people criticised simple examples that go with the book.
   Do your own examples for each chapter and that will teach you anything. Just reading the book and understanding it is not enough.
   
   I believe that a good programming book is the one that:
   1. presents it all
   2. presents it as simply as possible.
   This book does it all.



3. On the whole, I've been very happy with this book -- it covers a great deal of ground. But it doesn't really teach -- at best, it glosses.
   
   Of course, this might just be the nature of trying to cover such a vast technological landscape in a single book, but then again, I've read many a tech book of just this length, and come away with a much deeper understanding of things than I feel like I this one offers.
   
   The chapter on interfaces, events and delegates is a particularly frustrating one: the author writes extensively about each of these concepts, and provides working examples of each, in various flavors, but never explains *why* anyone might prefer to use one of these paradigms over, say, regular ol' vanilla method invocation. Sure, all these things work, but why might someone use one approach over another? Which one, or ones, are more preferable in practice? On the whole, these kinds of whys don't really get treated; we get the concepts, a few examples, and we move on, without much explanation beyond the how-tos.
   
   If you've picked up this particular book, you've probably got some experience under your belt. While it's a good book and I'm glad I have it (and would recommend it), if you're thinking of picking it up, be prepared to deal with a fair amount of frustration at what's missing.



4. This book should seriously exist in your shelf if you consider yourself a .NET programmer. The book explains the nitty-gritty of the C# language and consuming the .NET framework using C#. The chapter on delegates and events is thorough but I do have to admit that the chapter on Threading (Chapter 14) is somewhat lacking, but I'm guessing that Apress probably has a book for that (no points taken, Threading is another subject matter worthy of serious study). So why this book? If you really need to know what delegates are, if you need to know about generics or anonymous functions, this is the book to have. It makes a solid crash course for .NET 1.1 developers understandable while at the same time it lends itself to be a solid reference material.



5. I see that to-date 3 reviewers have awarded 1/5. Huh?
   
   I have a collection of at least 20 .NET related books. If I lost any of these I probably wouldn't replace them, with the exception of this book. I use the MSDN library mainly as a reference, but when I can't find what I'm looking for, amazingly, I always seem to find it in Andrew Troelsen's faithful book! Many thanks Andrew!

5 comments about The Annotated ANSI C Standard: American National Standard for Programming Languages-C : Ansi/Iso 9899-1990.

1. Schildt's annotations to the reference are in some cases misleading, in some cases confusing, and in many case just plain wrong. I'd recommend this book for someone who isn't able or willing to get the ANSI C reference directly from ANSI itself, but don't get it for the annotations.



2. The American National Standards Institute sells ISO 9899:1990 (the C language standard) for around $130. Schildt's annotated version sells for about $30-40. The price difference reflects the value of the annotations. At no time do the annotations clarify, enhance, or supplement the standard. The difficult or obscure points are often ignored; occasionally, "clarifying" text is added which flatly contradicts the meaning of the text. To comprehend how bad this really is, understand that 9899:1990 is the Standard; 9899-1990, as the book refers to it, would refer to the one thousand, nine hundred and ninetieth revision of that standard. Truly, incompetent from cover to cover, even including the spine. The redeeming feature? Despite (in at least one edition) a missing page of the standard, a few missing punctuation marks, and a few other botches, this does contain the text of the standard as it stood in 1990.



3. Before ordering this book from Amazon, I read all the other reviews. To be honest, I bought it because it was a lot cheaper than the ANSI standard ($130). Frankly, I do not understand why it is rated that low by the other readers. It includes the complete, unmodified standard, and it very well annotated by Schildt. The author, however, sometimes states things that are certainly not derived from the standard. Possibly they are derived from his almost 20 years programming in C and his deep knowledge of compilers. In my opinion, this book is a must for everybody willing to program in C and expecting his programs to run in every platform



4. Forget the annotations - they are at best worthless and at worst wrong, but $40 for a copy of the ANSI/ISO standard for C is a bargain. I use it regularly, but I don't bother with the right-hand pages.



5. The other reviewers said the annotations were crap, so I haven't bothered reading them for the most part, and when I did they weren't much help. Personally, I haven't found any of the errors they have been talking about (it would be nice if these critics were more specific) but I haven't been looking.very carefully.
   
   (...) I use it all the time.
   Generally, I consider the 9899:1990 ANSI standard of C to be the "gold standard" I want to adhere to if I'm in C - the few enhancements to the language that have come along since then aren't worth using, since the maintainer of your code will probably be using the 1989 k&r as his language reference manual, so he won't understand those enhancements, plus you may want to port to a platform that doesn't support them.

5 comments about Waite Group's Turbo C Programming for the PC (The Waite Group).

1. This was my very first C programming book. I had used Pascal a little bit when I bought it. 11 years later my copy of the book is tattered and torn, but I always keep it handy. The book is illustrated very well. It has floating arrows that describe what each element of the source code does. It does not talk down to the audience. The information within is presented with extreme clarity. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn C. I would also recommend this book to anyone wanting to give it as a gift to a teenager.



2. To be fair, I have the first edition of this book, dated 1987, and called "Turbo C Programming for the IBM". It has been with me many a year and has always been my favorite C book. It is the easiest of my C books to understand, and can be read like a novel with only occasionally going to the computer to try out their programs for reinforcement of a concept. All their examples are complete programs which are very helpful to me. Drawbacks to this book include: a) their sections on "Turbo" C are not applicable anymore, b) there are sections dealing with pc-specific issues that are not useful, and c) the C is not ansi compliant. However, in spite of this, it is still my favorite book because it is easy to understand.



3. This is a great book for C programming. It starts from elementary level and ends up teaching you advanced controls and professional aspects. It also covers some part of C++ and object oriented programming.



4. This book is how I learned to program 'C'. This is my favorite programming books of all time. It's easy to follow, good explanations and an excellent read. I've went on to become a lead programmer, and it all started here. Nostalgic, you bet. If you want to learn how to program in 'C', start here! I can't say anything more.



5. I picked this book up probably around 11 years ago and it is what I used to learn C programming. I had other books at hand as well, but this one really shines. The book has an obvious DOS slant to it as it is from that pre-Windows era. But in learning C programming, this one is hard to beat. I have since gone on to learn other languages, most notably Pascal / Delphi, but this book will always remain on my shelf. It was incredibly useful.

3 comments about Understanding C++ for MFC (With CD-ROM).

1. I am a CS student looking to do some GUI programing.The first 1/4 of the book is just basic brush up on simple c++ classes,strings, declaring variables, pointers,etc. Nice little refresher. Then it gets into pop up windows which was informative but very limited . Then the remander of the book is focused around one program that he wrote as an example but his descriptions are so vague it is dificult to apply it to your own program. The things done in the book can just as easily be done by following the MFC app wizard in visualc++ and then reading the MSDN library, save your money, or buy my copy used =)



2. The one thing that you're not going to do at the end of this book is actually understanding MFC. It will give you a crash course in how to write an MFC program, and that's where it stops. Deeper understanding of how and why things work the way they work is not explained.
   Most of the book is based on one example, so if you skip a chapter you're doomed because your sample project isn't up to date. I wouldn't recommend buying this book.



3. It does a good job of introducing MFC with good but not many examples. If you know C++ programming and have experience with another GUI framework, this book will serve you very well to understand MFC quickly.