Product Description

∗ A world–renowned C++ guru adopts a unique, practical approach that gets readers programming in the first chapter
∗ Visually appealing programs provide a major departure from the usual mathematical approach
∗ Tasks provide a key pedagogical vehicle for learning, are intrinsic to the presentation, and can serve as a foundation upon which to build employable skills
∗ CD–ROM includes a tool set to be used in conjunction with the book

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #343636 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 378 pages

Review
“…’Good ‘rating: …like getting your brain to run a half–marathon…” (Focus, April 04)

"…Editors Choice…a great read and an excellent resource for would–be programmers…"(PC Utilities, May 2004)

“…highly recommended for beginners and intermediate C++ programmers…” (CVu October 04)

Review
“…’Good ‘rating: …like getting your brain to run a half–marathon…” (Focus, April 04)

"…Editors Choice…a great read and an excellent resource for would–be programmers…"(PC Utilities, May 2004)

“…highly recommended for beginners and intermediate C++ programmers…” (CVu October 04) 

CVu October 04
"...highly recommended for beginners and intermediate C++ programmers..."

Customer Reviews

Excellent fundamentals
There are two things about this book which make it an excellent choice for beginners:
* You aren't rushed through the basics and then presented more interesting intermediate material. Things like loops and functions are intuitive to people who already understand them, but we forget how hard it all was the first time round. It is (IMHO) incredibly important to take the time to get an abolutely rock-solid understanding of the basics.
* This isn't a book about C. Far too often, authors feel the need to teach the C subset of C++ before touching on the standard library, templates, exceptions and so forth. This book gives a more "pure" view onto C++, teaching the usage of vectors, strings and algorithms right from the start.

In short, this is a well-written book with useful tools included on the CD. I recommend it to anyone wanting to learn their first programming language.

terrible...terrible...terrible
I've gone on the internet many times trying to find a good c++ reference...so soon I tried to get a Book which might also act as a good tutorial...this was the first choice on my list and the worst...Most c++ books start you off with the most simple "hello world" programs possible whilst this one already makes you start using a really lame graphics tool called Playpen and it's pointless inner functions...through the whole of this book, all you do is constantly rely on a pointless graphics program and might even end up being alittle bit too dependant on it, if you're a beginner and you've just finished reading this book then you might not even be able to differentiate between Playpen and raw c++!
When you dump the terrible compiler it gives you (Quincy) and move onto a proper one like Dev-c++, you might still be putting playpen.display at the end of your programs...

Terrible layout and makes you too dependant on this pointless graphics class called Playpen...if you switch to dev-c++ and start using sdl, don't blame me if you still start your main() functions with playpen pen;

a wonderful computer programming book for beginners
This book by Francis is wonderful. To be honest, this is the best book for beginners who want to start their first step in computer programming I have ever seen . This book is not only to tell you what C++ is. And what's more, it tells you what computer programming is. Because you know, learning a language is not equal to learning computer programming. Besides, the author uses a lot of examples in our daily life to explain
some very indigestible concepts in C++ and computer programming.

In my opinion, one standard of judging if a book is good or not is whether it uses easy to read and understand words to explain some abstruse subjects. And this book succeeds in doing that, for example, the explanations of "name"and "namespace" which many beginner's books didnot explain clearly. And if you read this book, you will find it well clarifies some concepts, for example, the differences between variable and object, the differences between declaration and defintion and so on.

Above all, Francis and his book give us a good guide to computer programming. If you are absolutely new to computer programming, I highly recommend you to buy one and read it through. It will get you into some good programming habits which you will benefit from in your prospective computer programming career. I am looking forward to his next new books.