Customer Reviews

C++ in Plain English

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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++.

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.

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.

I've programmed before and have read Teach Yourself C in 21 days, as well as the Wrox Press C++ tutorial that comes with MSVC++ 6.0 STD. They were OK, and what I'd expect from people with technical minds (like mine), but I got confused when I learned about structures, linked lists, templates, etc. This book actually translates much of the keywords to English in a little section between Ch. 9 and 10, like a C++-to-English dictionary. There are explanations of many, if not all, standard functions in the back. The tutorial is in an order that I've never seen before, is quick, and gives sample code that uses simple programs rather than the usual "Here's the biggest thing you can do so far" style that most books do. It goes from simple to advanced pretty quickly, but easily, so I suggest writing a few programs of your own in each chapter just to get familiar, just in case you haven't programmed before. Oh, and if you think you need another book to learn with, and need this to help, well, I would seriuosly disagree. This covers more than any book I've seen so far, from beginner to advanced, so all you need is this one, even to just get started.

I am a soon to be new college graduate in the area of software development. I would highly recommend this book for intermediate to advanced programmers. I agree with an earlier post that the book may be a little to advanced for someone who has never seen C++ before. I did not fully grasps the concept of pointers, virtual functions, and classes until I read this book. The examples are really helpful.

I am a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology Class of 2000 Rochester, New York

Believe it or not, I nearly read the whole book! This book is just great for those with a bit of programming knowledge, but even if you don't, it provides easy-to-understand explainations to start you off.

Firstly, I have done C++ b4, but with this book, I managed to get better insights into some of the C++ concepts. Not only that, the author actually bothers to explain some of the more important predefined library functions!

Secondly, this book makes for a great tutorial with concise explainations, though it should have provided a bit more examples (but its still good enough) and it also makes for an excellent C++ reference. Those changing from C, no worries.

Lastly, go check it out and have a skim thru. You won't be dissappointed for sure.

This is a great book for any beginner or even an advanced user to brush up on your skills. If your looking for a great book this is definatly the one to buy. I'd recommend this book to any c++ programmer!

It could sound like I perhaps worked for Brian Overland but I just wand to express that this book impresses me again and again. It is a really well written book. I buy every new Edition that comes out of it. It is so well written and organized that I often use it as reference when I discuss documentation quality with our documentation department. No kidding, it makes learning C++ as exciting as reading a novel. I would recommend this book to any C++ developer even as a every day reference. It has literally no overhead like so many other books and shows many ways of doing the same thing in a short compressed way. The book fully lives up to a "one-of-it-kind" as it states on the back cover. Brian, keep up the good work.

This book is brilliant for anyone that has a good understanding (or thinks they have) of C++. I've learnt more from this book than all my other books combined.

More advanced than a primer, this book would not suit a person that had just started learning C++. The book is set out in a Standard manner with chapters, while the last section of the book has a listing of A-Z of all things C++.

What I found invaluable is the short examples that are provided and the detailed explanation of the syntax and the finer points of C++ not found in other books.

If you dont know what the equal sign (=) means in C++, then you should buy this book. Depending on the context it is used, it can invoke the copy constructor, = operator, simple address assignment or variable initialization.

By and far this is the most valuable C++ book I have. I've read it 3 times, and plan to read it more.

The book is very detailed and very useful, but you need to have patientce to read it all, it's pretty thick. If you want to learn C++ without a class, get this book!