Customer Reviews

Debugging C++: Troubleshooting for Programmers

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

 

 

Finally, a thorough book on the use of Visual C++'s Debugger. This book will take you through the essentials of optimization, debugging inline assembly code, dealing with MFC, and goes on to discuss repairing errors in STL code. If you want to get the most out of the debugger in Visual C++, you must have this book!

Like I said, the above sums up my advice. I'd suggest only absolute beginners would write a good review for this book, because they don't know any better. One section alleges that a programmer who teaches themself C++ will get fired, because they would use the line

i = i + 1;

not realising they SHOULD use

i++;

This is funny on SO many levels.

1. Who would fire someone for this ?
2. Why can't people find this syntax for themselves ?
3. He crows about increased efficiency, but i++ creates a tempory, he wants ++i for this claim
4. He was talking specifically about people teaching themselves in migration from C, which, as you know, supports i++.

He goes on to list the STL containers, misses half of them and goes on to explain why STL containers are better than containers based on templates ( which is the bedrock of STL ).

His understanding is obviously lacking, but this does not stop him from writing about a topic if he thinks it will help sell his book.

John Robbins book, on the other hand, is indispensable. If you don't own it, you need to. It is everything this book could have been and more. John is the author of MSDN's 'Bugslayer' column, and he knows what he is talking about.

I was pretty excited when I first got this book, but was pretty disappointed after reading it.

First off, the title is misleading, focusing on Windows rather than C++. Since I am mainly a Windows programmer, though, this didn't phase me too much. However, the book often seemed to be a manual for the Visual C++ debugger rather than an insightful narrative on the debugging process. Although I realize examples have to be short and to the point, I was often insulted by the ridiculously simple errors the authors presented. The section on inline assembly debugging is almost useless. A much better approach would be examining the assembly language that the Visual C++ compile generates, rather than creating simple ASM programs with obvious mistakes.

I would have much rather seen a book about preventing bugs, and techniques that can be used to accomplish this goal. While this is certainly not that book, it would be useful for something just getting started with Visual C++, though anyone beyond a novice would probably be as disappointed as I was.

The title suggests that this is a c++ book. It is not. More than half the text is devoted to MFCs, DLLs, and other microsoft platform and tools specific issues. In fact, perhaps only 2-3 of the chapters can be said to be actually dealing with the c++ language. And the information provided there is pretty generic. "debug your code, not stroustrup's". Well, thank you. For users more advanced on MFCs and the like, it may be of use, but for students of C++, money is better spent elsewhere.

This book stays to much on the surface. - In the main part it describes how to use the VC++ Debugger (the menu, the buttons). It's ok for beginners.

* The price for a used one (currently $1/copy) tells you the story.
* They didn't know what they were talking about when it came to STL.
* Lots of outdated, smelly, crappy code in the book.
* Forget it.

I have programmed in C for 5 years and now C++ for 4 years. I make my living at this. I have run into some really nasty bugs.

I bought this book with the hopes that it could help me out with a numeric precision problem I was having on a project. The book did just that!

Using an example in the book, I located the problem then took the steps to fix it. Killed that bug!

The book is well worth the money if it helps you locate just one problem!

I have taken over five C++ classes from introductory to advanced. None of those classes ever taught me the essential information contained in this book.

It is great, but it is not a book to be taken lightly. You have to get into Chapter 1 and stay with it to the end. When you get there you won't regret the journey.

One of the best books these authors have done!!!!!

I am fairly new to C++ programming. I bought the authors book, Visual C++ 6 and have been working throught that book. That book was excellant, and I wrote a review for it.

This book is really beyond my present capabilities. I gave it a high rating because I can understand what the authors are trying to impart in terms of writing code and finding problems. It is just that I'm not writing that kind of code yet.

What I really liked about the book is the presentation style. They seem to be taking real life problems (see parts that refer to student problems) and showing you how to find solutions.

Man - I couldn't figure this stuff out till I got this book. It shows how to do really hard debugging stuff with one or two computers. Kewl.