C++ in Plain English [Paperback]

Brian Overland (Author)

Book Description

Series: In Plain English | Publication Date: March 30, 1996

This comprehensive guide gives a concise ove rview of the C++ language, including examples, and provides an A-Z listing of major language features. It details the fi ne points of C++ programming and shows the distinction betwe en C and C++. '

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

C++ In Plain English 3rd Edition Two Books in One! This one-of-a-kind guide delivers just what you need to make the most of C++, whether you're relatively new to programming or a veteran developer. The book opens with a unique reference section that lets you look things up by element, operator, or keyword, among other categories. Need more answers? The second part delivers concise, example-filled tutorials that show you step-by-step how to work with classes, inheritance, and other object-oriented programming techniques. This new edition includes the latest ANSI and C99 additions to C++. Open the Book for Ready-Reference Help ...
* C++ in plain English
* Operators
* Library functions
* I/O stream classes
* C++ elements A to Z
* Keywords
* Preprocessor elements
... and Succinct, Step-by-Step Tutorials ...
* Pointers and strings
* Classes
* Inheritance
* Class operations (operator overloading)
* Advanced use of stream classes
* Input and output
* Constructors
* Virtual functions
Plus Invaluable Appendices
* Standard exceptions
* The Iconv structure
* Overview of ANSI C++ features
* ASCII character codes
* Summary of C/C++ differences
"This is the best C++ book I have read so far. I am an old C programmer and I like your descriptions that explain all the different ways to accomplish the same thing..." -Darrin Kohn, Programmer and Electrical Engineer, Triad Controls Inc. www.mandtbooks.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Brian Overland worked for Microsoft for 10 years, where he was a software tester, senior technical writer, and project leader on the development teams of both Visual C++ 1.0 and Visual Basic 1.0. His books include Visual Basic 6 In Plain English and Java In Plain English. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 561 pages
• Publisher: Mis Pr (March 30, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558284729
• ISBN-13: 978-1558284722
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,816,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top notch C++ book for those new to C++, October 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: C++ in Plain English (Paperback)

I have a number of books on C++ and I have to say this one stands out as the best of the ones I have read thus far. Since I already program in a number of other languages (Assembly, Perl, Basic, Vbasic, etc.), I really was just looking for something that would get me up to speed in the C++ world without a lot of fuss and without having to read through 900 pages. This book accomplished this spot on.

The book is very well written and the author has a style which makes you feel like your best friend is explaining something to you in a manner which you can understand. The first half of the book is a handy C++ reference that seems very complete, while the second half gets into the specifics of how to use the language with regard to pointers, control structures, functions, etc.

I always regarded C and C++ as a somewhat strange and complex language - even though I have a strong background in assembly language programming as far back as 1980. This book has help remove the mystery of C++ and allowed me to apply what I already knew about computers and programming to the C/C++ environment.

This book is probably best used in conjunction with other more entry level C++ books (I found C++ for dummies and C++ in 10 minutes both nice companion texts for this book - probably especially helpful if you have never programmed at all). However, if you already know a language such as Perl, Java, Assembly or even Basic, then this book should make for a very nice entry into programming in C++.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good., November 25, 1999

By 

Luis Molina (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: C++ In Plain English (Paperback)

I am a seasoned computer programmer. And this is one of the best references you can have for C++. I highly recommend it. (It's not a tutorial though. If you need a tutorial, look for other books.) Toronto.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant reference and how-to book, always on my desk, June 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: C++ in Plain English (Paperback)

I came across this fairly small (600p A5 format) book while looking for something much bigger and fatter on C++. It may not be suitable as the only book for a beginner or a complete expert (I am neither) but, as a reference book, I find it absolutely essential. It sits by my keyboard all the time along with "Linux in a Nutshell" and so far I have always quickly found exactly what I am looking for in it. I do have other C++ books that I also use if I want to get a different perspective on a particular topic or go into a lot more depth, but if it is just a matter of getting the job done Brian Overland's book usually does the trick. Brian is an extremely good and lucid writer (he writes novels too), which makes the book a pleasure to read. He must also be a practical programmer since he has included all the different indexes, cross-references, glossary, table of contents and even an ASCII character code table, that you could desire; it doesn't seem to matter how you start to look for a topic it just appears as if by magic. The main reference sections of the book cover Operators, Keywords, Library Functions, I/O Stream Classes - all set out in alphabetic order in each section. The tutorial part of the book (a little less than half) can be read through or used as reference and it can be hard to imagine why other books need so many pages. All the sections bristle with useful examples. There is a glossary near the back of the book and this is a masterpiece of educational material in itself! I would class this as a "must have" book. Brilliant! Don't be deceived by the low price, it's better that other books at over twice the price.