Customer Reviews

C++ Pointers and Dynamic Memory Management

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hardly anyone comes out of their first, or even second, book on C++ having the firm grasp of pointers needed to be successful with the language. This book does an admirable job of filling in this gap for you. Every use of pointers in C++ is examined in-depth by Mr. Daconta. I found the chapters on pointers to pointers and function pointers particularly useful, as both of these topics are typically given short shrift in other C++ books.

I docked the book one star because the example code was obviously a very hasty translation from the original C version of the book. Many examples would not compile and run properly without some debugging. However, this should not be your first C++ book, and if you have a firm grounding in the language from one of the good beginner's books on the subject (Stephen Prata's C++ Primer Plus is my recommendation) you should be able to locate and fix these problems.

While I understood pointers I always felt a little uncomfortable with them - this book has made things crystal clear. It has helped me to understand pointer and memory management concepts and pitfalls and has made me a much better programmer. This is NOT the book for you if you are trying to learn C++ or are at a beginner level - this is for the intermediate to heavy C++ programmer who wants to improve his/her coding skills and depth of knowledge.

This is an excellent reference for any project manager, architect or programmer who intends to manage, design or implement C++ applications. Mr. Daconta does a tremendous job of describing C++ copy semantics and the reasons for developing good copy semantics. Included in the explanation is a discussion of different compilers and their handling of coppy constructors. Examples of copy constructors and assignment operators are superior.

His in depth discussions of memory management and the tasks to be performed to ensure C++ program reliablity are essential knowledge for anyone planning to pursue a C++ implementation. Excellent code examples with explanations.

Whereas some authors explain a programming concept with a paragraph or two, Daconta gives you pages of explainations with non-trivial code that actually reinforces the ideas he is trying to convey. He not only explains how something is done but why and where it should be used and not used. If only all programming books were written this well. Believe all the high ratings.

Michael not demonstrates the power, pitfalls, and subtilties of pointer operations, he gives powerful insight into the inner workings of the compiler and c++ data structure (class) modeling. I've owned the book for two months, and have read it cover to cover twice. I can't count the number of times I've used it just as a reference. I can honestly say that I've been using the book more often then I do my BC 4.5 help files. I highly recommend this book for anyone who sometimes fumbles a pointer function, or to anyone who is wise enough to recognize just how much power pointers can delever to your developement efforts. If you only buy one book this year I would choose Michael's above all others for the intermediate to advance programmer.

The ability to teach a complex subject in terms a layman canunderstand is a gift. Daconta is one of the few authors thatpossess that gift. If you plan on doing any realistic programming in C or C++ then a thorough knowledge of pointers, memory addresses, and dynamic allocation is crucial. Daconta's in-depth presentation of these topics is billiant. He clearly explains what pointers are and how to use them, call by reference and by value, casting, lvaues, rvalues, the stack,... and much more! From beginning to advanced, C or C++, I highly recommend this book! Brady Tippit

I learned to program in C++/MFC pretty much by the seat of my pants. This book is invaluable for learning pointers. It starts simple, and then dives down deep. I think it is an excellent book. Most developers seem to hate C++ because of pointers. Learn pointers from this book and you will not only learn to love them, you will become a expert programmer as well!

I have read this book five times front to back and back to front, as a C\C++ Systems programmer this book proves invaluable in manipulating data more effiiciently than any other book on the subject. This book is well diagramed and supported with text dissections that explain why the code was coded the way it was, not leaving you directionless and frustrated. I suggest for the novice programmer to get this book, because it will give you a head start over the average beginner. I would couple this book with some real world working code, perhaps in C\C++ Journal and correlate the how syntactically and semanctically the pointers tie together. Figit with the code examples and be prepared to experiment, you will not regret it. Great reference for advanced professionals as well. Only inkling that is the ugly book cover and wish to have a smaller textbook, like Addison-Wesley's C++ Primer 2nd Edition by Stanley Lippman

The book was OK, but the examples were too long. After suffering through the long code examples to understand them, I found that they were usually of little help. I did learn from the book, but I am disappointed. The book does cover many important topics and has helped my understanding of pointers. Don't use this book as your sole resource, it is inadequate.

This is a really awesome book. In my opinion, nobody to date has explained pointers better than Mr. Daconta. By the time I finished reading the book and doing the exercises, I was really thinking out "pointers" and how they were being represented inside the machine, which is what makes this book great.

Pointers being a difficult topic, I have referenced scores of sources, but have come away disappointed. The author with his unique explaining style (using diagrams and "paper computer" paradigm) brings out the essence, power and the pitfalls of pointers, references and memory management.