Customer Reviews

Microsoft Visual C++ 5: No Experience Required

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This does not teach you anything. It gives little explanation of its programs, and no explanation of the syntax involved in it. It mostly teaches copying, and often it had typos.

This book was by far the worst ever written on Visual C++. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED SUBTITLE!! This requires you know C++ fluently, and only barely explains Visual C++! It does not tell you anything about the wizards (or what the code means), or any other junk. If you are a beginner, get Ivor Horton's Beginning Visual C++ 5. Geez, this began teaching object oriented programming ON THE SECOND EXAMPLE!! No experience required? AND HE DIDN'T EXPLAIN IT!! If you are experienced, this will teach you how to click on the wizards and type faster, before you finally decide whether to burn the book or flush it. He says he'll teach you to build browsers and word processors. WOWEE!! I learned that by using the stupid WIZARD and typing 2 lines of code! He didn't explain anything, and you'll get far more productivity by copying a file. His book sucked, and he didn't explain the code, period. Moreover, his code had typos and gaps. The only thing I learned from this book is how to use the wizard. The only thing I example I fully understood was the cout example, the first one, which he never used again. If you want to program, then read Horton's book, or just get a free tutorial online. If you buy this book, you either like disappointment, or just want something to read, or just want something to burn, or became drunk. Other than that, there is absolutely NOBODY THAT WOULD READ THIS TRASH!!

Well, there's probably not many folks using VC++ 5.0 anymore, but in case there are, I must say I'm a bit amazed at the virulent negative reviews on this book. I'm proficient in Windows programming. I can write windows programs which have dialogs, any kind of controls (list controls, edit control, tab controls, radio buttons etc.) are dialog or windows-based, have graphics, use files, menus, buttons. I got all this from this book.

It's true that the book takes a minimalist approach, but that is EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED. I got through the book FAST, and I can do all what I said above exactly for that reason.

The book does not teach C++ and object oriented programming, but for heavens sake, if you don't know that, don't start on Visual C++. Get one of the zillions upon zillions of books out there on C++ and study it first.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This book doesn't teach C++ - so if you are only familiar with Visual Basic - Don't buy it, because you WILL be lost. VC++/MFC IS NOT A LANGUAGE - its a C++ development tool. You have to know C++ and its class system to use the book effectively.

However - if you already know how to program in C++ and wish to jump right in to windows programming using the VC++/MFC development system then this book is for you.

It shows you the basics - MDI/SDI/Dialog architecture; menus & toolbars; keyboard and mouse message handling; Controls and buttons; the basics of ActiveX controls, and the like. You get a quick start with a surprising width of subject matter - including building a web browser using the ActiveX controls that ship with VC++.

You will not learn more advanced things like multi-threaded programming, or explicit DLL linking here, but you will learn "The System" and how to learn it for yourself. It would probably be a huge book to get into that kind of depth.

Its a great quick start to windows programming for the C++ programmer, but its not meant to be a definitive volume - if you need THAT then buy the David J. Kruglinski book.

When I bought this book I knew the basics of Visual Basic (no pun intended!). I got this book, and even though I knew what variables and methods and other kinds of that stuff where, I still found this book WAY too hard to follow.

It starts by telling you one thing then another, not telling you why. It says "Do this", but it never explains WHY. I don't think this is a very good starter book. A better one is Teach Yourself Visual C++ 5.0 in 21 days. It is very thorough and easy to understand.

This book is just good for a refresher. Well, maybe it's not good for anything at all.

I've been programming in Visual Basic for about a year now, and in BASIC since I was six. But because of my history with the BASIC language I've found C++ rather awkward, with both its concepts and even with its syntax/structure. This book did NOT help, in spite of its subtitle, "No Experience Required". No experience, that is, except having already learned the language.

By the second chapter I was stumped. The author jumped around describing what he was doing with C++ concepts, rather than going into detail about the C++ language itself and describe what these things meant. "Jumped around" is not an overstatement--I've played a game of Twister that was easier to follow than this.

I quit reading the book by the second chapter. A sad waste of money.

I would only recommend this book to someone who already has experience in C++ and needs to take his/her knowledge and put it in Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0

Holzner's book differs from other introductions to the language in these respects: (1) The beginner isn't bombarded with lengthy treatises on the intricacies of Windows programming - topics are introduced as needed, with the adequate amount of information needed to progress to the next step. Many books of this type make the mistake of digressing in their treatment of "foundational" Windows programming knowledge into buzzwords, unfamiliar terms and complex concepts and interactions that soon overwhelm the novice. (2) Holzner encourages the student by taking him through short tutorials which build essential "skills." These tutorials, while not heavy on detail, are short enough to quickly see results, and so constitute the "baby steps" the beginner needs to get an overview of what this kind of programming is about. Holzner's book strikes a good balance in these areas.

The one glaring weakness is the terribly done character-based illustrations. They are incongruous in this age of electronic illustration and become an irritating feature. The inclusion of the source code for each exercise is also of dubious value.

In summary, this book is good as a confidence-builder and an encouragement to learn more; it is not a detailed reference to Win32 C++ programming.

You need to already know C++ of course to gain any real benefits from this book. It teaches Microsoft's Visual C++, not the C++ language itself. In that sense it's a good beginning book.

However, there are a lot of typos and minor mistakes in the book. Nothing serious, and I had fun and learned more, by searching out and debugging the author's typos.

It does everything it says, it teaches you how to program by example. However that is all it does, and nothing more. I finished reading this book knowing ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING about windows programming. Yipee I can make a program that if you type a letter (not counting enter and backspace) you could make it appear on the screen. This is one of the worst books I have ever read in my life, for the love of GOD dont get it.

"No Experience Required", right! The title is misleading. If you are a new C++ programmer, well this book will not teach you the syntax of C++. (Or naming conventions, explaining pointers ...) The only thing this book will teach you is how to type code into Visual C++ and compile it. (But the code you typed will not be explained in any way.) But on the good side, the publishers have links to employment agencies, where you can lie to them saying you can program in C++.

And if you are an experienced C++ programmer but wanted more information on either MFC or Active X controls, then the one brief overview chapter on these topics will not give you enough (or any) information.

I would of given this book 0 Stars (or less) if Amazons Review Page would allow it.