Customer Reviews

Learn to Program with C++

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a 15 year old sophomore in high school. Lately I have become interested in computer programming, and I studied the BASIC language. For Christmas I recieved a C++ program, but I had no idea how to program in C++. I tried reading the manual, but it was not help, so I bought this book. Now, within 4 days of purchasing the book, I wrote my own program to figure how well I need to do on my final exams to get a certain grade.

I contribute this to the way the book is layed out. John Smiley brings you into one of his C++ classrooms and lets you "take the classes". This book is very simple and easy to read, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the C++ language, but doesn't really know where to start.

This book excellently fills its stated purpose: an introductory c++ for somebody with limited or no programming experience. Of course it won't make you Bjarne Stroutrup in three easy lessons (which some people seem to believe is doable! Dream on!) It covers up to exceptions, gently and methodically touching each topic along the way- data, loops, selection structures, functions, objects, inheritance, arrays, pointers and exceptions- in a manner centered around building a 'real' project: a mark book for a university faculty. Each concept is worked into the overarching project context through examples and then insertion into the project itself. Material is presented as a conversion between the author and his students in a workshop/class setting as they work on this project, which can be a bit schmaltzy if not done well. Smiley manages to do this and avoid insipidness, yet remain on track and provide insightful answers. He way could be considered as perhaps labeled FAQ'S posed by a theoreticals student- making it more 'real'.

Okay, this isn't a reference book. No does it cover all the basics like Unions and structures, etc. But this is a very introductory book. And a very good one at that. I honestly believe that if you can't make good progress into c++ (enough to want to more onwards and upwards) with this book then perhaps you might want to consider visual basic instead. The hand-holding is effective and not belittling, focused and not driveling on with useless waffle. There is no compiler included with the book but the net is full of free c++ compilers (gnu.org is a great starting place), so download one, get the book and get cracking. c++ awaits and this guy WILL get you on the right track and programming well.

The introduction to the SDLC is very light, but a good context for how software needs to be developed in today's world were software hacking is being replaced by software engineering.

Altogther: effective, fun and thumbs up. Well worth the price. Hopefully it won't be the last c++ book you buy, but it is a pretty damn good first!

Let me begin by saying that I'm the author, so let's get that out of the way.

I'm posting here to point out that the book has a tremendous amount of support materials that have never been advertised. Each of my books has a support page containing a current list of errata, downloadable files (completed exercises from the book), extra links to extra materials I have written and my email address in the event you have problems. I also run a series of online classes so that if you would like to learn with me in a more structured setting, you can do that also. You can access those materials via this link

http://www.johnsmiley.com/books.htm

I should also say that this book isn't for everyone---and you can read through some of the other reviews posted here to see why and why not.

I wrote this book for beginner level programmers, and the book is written in a unique style.

You (and I) can thank the now defunct Wrox Publishing house for the style of the book that some people absolutely love and others (primarily hotshot programmers with lots of experience) hate. The book is written as if you are participating in an actual classroom---many people, particularly those learning on their own or in an Independent study setting find comforting.

My thanks to the many people who have written to me to tell me how much they've enjoyed my books and how they have helped them achieve their goals of learning to program.

John Smiley

Learn To Program With C++ by John Smiley (Computer Science Professor at Penn State University), is a straightforward "reader friendly" introduction especially written for beginners to the art and skill of programming in the C++ language. No prior programming experience is required to quickly grasp these basic, easy-to-understand lessons which are enhanced with questions and exercises. Functions, inheritance, errors and error handling, classes and creating objects, and more are covered in this superbly presented and highly recommended introductory primer.

This ia an excellent book for both a beginner who wants to understand program, and for a person who has coded in other languages and wants to learn C++. The book goes farther than teaching code and giving code examples. I have studied from books that give examples. John Smiley goes much farther than that and explains why he uses the code that he uses. He teaches the reader to logically think through the process of creating a program, which is much more than simply writing code. I also recommend looking at his book Learn To Program with Visual Basic 6.

Hi, I'm a thirteen year old kid and doesn't know anything about programming... I bought the book because I was curious... My mom said that I wouldn't understand it because programming is complicated, but I really insisted so she bought me the book. Anyways, I found out that it wasn't that hard to understand! In fact, I'm about to finish the book right now! It was so interesting! You should buy it. It centers on beginners like me! :)

If you have little or no computing background, but would like to learn C++, the most powerful programming language, then this is the book for you. I think of myself as an intelligent person, yet every programming book I've looked at needlessly complicates the subject. I am a believer that anything can be explained, if it is done so in the right way. John Smiley's C++ easily got me through the basics of the language and now I am ready for a more advanced book. His teaching style replicates a classroom, yet is extremely focused with his virtual students asking every question that a beginner would want to know. After this book, you will definitely be comfortable with C++ and not be afraid to program. I am usually fairly critical, but I have nothing bad to say here. As if this isn't enough, I wrote an email to the author, congratulating him on saving so many of us so much time and aggravation, and he actually gave me a link to another book to read for more advanced C++ (Deitel and Deitel C++). [Money]very well spent.

I took a C++ introductory class at my university which used the textbook "How to program C++" by Deitel & Deitel 4th edition and let me tell you, Deitel is not a good book to begin with. I really enjoy programming and the DEITEL book made learning C++ very discouraging. I bought Smiley's book and learning C++ became very exciting. Smiley makes learning very exciting and intriguing. This is an excellent starting place to learn C++. It's as if Smiley is right there in person holding your hand every step of the way. You will learn a tremendous amount of information. It would be very exciting (for me) to attend one of Smiley's live classes.

If you are looking for hard-core coding techniques then this is not for you, but if you are wanting to learn the basics of C++ programming, I would recommend this book. It is very straight forward in the definitions and examples of C++.

I can't compare Learn To Program with C++ to any other C++ books, because this is the only one I have read so far. All in all, unfortunately, the book has turned out to be a failure. I simply didn't get out of the book what I wanted: an elementary introduction to the language.

At times, it seemed the author was using phrases that he had never used before, as if he had explained them before at some point. Bizarre, yes. He made the assumption that some of his terminology was either very simple to pick up on, or was already covered. It wasn't simple or already covered.

Also, perhaps equally bothersome, the author talks too much about the students in his fictitous class. Make note that there actually no classroom with the students he is always talking about. What is probably most bothersome is that he often repeats the same things over such as "I waited to see if anyone else had a question." He is the one writing the book, of course he knows if one of his characters is going to ask a question or not! Remarkable. The interaction between him and his students may upset some people just because there are no actual students.

As far as the book being easy to read, well, the introduction is, but you may get lost after that. I did. It is possible that C++ is to blame, or may be it is how the author presents the language.