Customer Reviews

C++ Primer Plus (Mitchell Waite Signature Series)

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am not a computer wizard. I am a physicist who uses computers and would like to have a modern language in his toolkit, for frequent, though not daily, use. I have some proficiency in C, though the discussions at comp.lang.c sometimes (often?) baffle me. I would like to build very specialized computer algebra systems, to help me with my burdens. My choice was C++. I tried all the standard, highly reputed, books, and was about to give up, when I first met Prata's Primer Plus. And I finally started to learn the language. Incredibly enough, what I've found in this book, and only in it, is an exposition of C++ which meets the famous "dictum" by Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland): "Begin from the beginning. Go on till you reach the end. Then stop." What the hell is going on with C++ books, which do the opposite, a sort of "Begin from the end", or almost so? Why even the obviously highly qualified Stroustrup feels the need to give a premature overview of C++ which alienates many, even technically educated, people? Well, now I read Prata's book. I feel confortable with a reasonable subset of the language. I write code which has little to do with the previous code I wrote under C. So, I've met a few of the criteria used to gauge your expertise (well, that's too much, yet...) in the language and in object oriented programming. And I did it with the right mixture of pain (if you feel no pain at all, you are not learning) and pleasure. And, finally, I got a taste for the refined style of Stroustrup. Prata's Primer Plus is a very good book.

This book has a wealth of information and is truely one of the few 5-star books out there that I have come across. I own over 12 books that cover C++ and by far this is the best one. My background in programming is PASCAL, BASIC, and C. BASIC was something that I toyed with in high school and PASCAL and C came to me while I was in college. After finishing college I decided that my language of choice was going to be C++ and thus I set out on teaching myself OOP and C++. This was one of the first books I obtained. It starts out pretty basic if you are familiar with C and programming in general, but it quickly moves into OOP topics and does an excellent job at covering those topics. It presents it in a class type atmosphere with review questions and programming assignments at the end of each chapter. If you are serious about learning C++ and are searching for that starting point, this is the book for you. It can't be beat for the price. A very precise book that makes learning the language fun. I would personally like to thank Stephen Prata for producing such a wonderful text.

As a newcomer to C++ (and C), I had a previous background in Pascal and Quick Basic. I had looked through numerous books on the subject before checking the reviews here, and decided to pick up this book as my basic tutorial. One of the things that decided the issue for me was the apparantly extensive discussion of Classes and OOP.

Having had the book for 2 weeks now, and working through it while nailing down three jobs, I have to say that the money was well worth it. Complete examples are given, along with notes for the programs, for each new command and concept. The notable exception has been on the early section covering data formats similar to structures (Unions and Enumerations). I found this section to be confusing and thus skimmed it with hopes that they will be explained later.

The exercises in the back of each chapter are actually fun, mainly because they're manageable. As a side note, I do wonder how much material in this book overlaps that of the Waite's Guide to OOP using C++, since I am also thinking about getting that book. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated (my e-mail is listed in this review).

As far as learning C++ goes, this book is excellent. Prata has a very readable style of writing, and this book covers a lot of terminology and material, from variables and functions to exception handling and the STL. I agree with a previous reviewer about reading Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in C++" after this one, or (as I did) alongside it. Eckel's book is much more technical and detailed, and it covers the more advanced topics that "C++ Primer Plus" doesn't.

The big problem with this book is the typos. I swear I've never seen so many in a single book! Even the cover has a typo (on the back, near the bottom): "Covers: ANSI/IOS C++". "IOS" should be "ISO". Just thumbing through the first several chapters, I found at least a dozen or more typos. I found three typos in a single diagram, and three more on the facing page. And this is the third edition?

If Sams and Prata would just proofread this book and correct some of the dozens of typos, "C++ Primer Plus" would definitely become one of my favorite introductory C++ books.

This is the first time I've felt a need to actually defend a book that not only was great but wrongly accused of being horrible.

To the professor who used the book as a text book: A couple of things. First, you are right, its not ANSI C compliant -- because it is a C++ book that is ANSI/ISO Standard C++ compliant. Are you sure you are teaching the right class? And while C++ does inherit alot from C, they are not the same language. Try posting "C == C++?" on comp.lang.c++ sometime and see what kind of response you get. Second, Borland and Microsoft Visual C++ compilers are not perfect and do suffer from some deficiencies in their implementation of the standard. Again, post that question to c.l.c++. The book does a decent job of pointing out some of these problems and tells you what you will need to do to correct them but of course it can't cover every single problem for every version. If you are going to teach Standard C++, use a compiler that implements the standard fully.

To the person who felt slighted because the "plus" should have meant something more: The plus in C++ Primer Plus does not indicate a more advanced book over another beginner guide but that it is a book that covers all the beginner (primer) information plus some more advanced information like the STL. Don't attack the author of the book because you can't read a table of contents. Flip through the book. Does it contain information that you already know about? Then don't buy it.

Enough ranting. C++ Primer Plus is an excellent beginner's guide. Stephen Prata's explanation of programming concepts and ideas are top notch. Not only does he explain a topic throughly at each point that it becomes important, he uses examples later that reinforces your knowledge of the subject. Also, he doesn't overwelm you with dense text but steps through each aspect and gives sufficient explanation of each step so you know exactly what is going on.

Another plus are the Review Questions and the Excercises. Every beginning programming book should have them, maybe even some of the advanced ones. By actively learning by answering the Review Questions and doing the Excercises rather than passively learning by reading the book, you understand the concepts more fully and can better grasp the more advanced concepts as they are presented.

Two gripes I do have. Yes there are some typos and code errors but I have never read a programming book that didn't. Even the highly respect books by Bjarne Stroustrup, father of C++, contain errors. Unfortunately you can't "compile" a book and hand checking can only do so much. Then there are editors and typesetters who can add mistakes. They happen. The difference is that most publishers provide an errata to their books so readers can find out the corrections to the copies of the books they have. Sams Publishing, as of this writing, doesn't do that -- but at the same time, that's the fault of the publisher, not the author.

Second, and this really is for most beginner programming texts, I wish authors would through in harder excercises to text skills with. Stephen Prata does a decent job at this but they could have been better. There needs to be some ultimate test of a person's ability and especially if this is the readers first programming experience they need to learn the logic fundamentals of thinking through a problem and arriving at a solution. A rating system for each excercise (1 - piece of cake to 5 - really tough) would be sufficient.

Who this book is for: This book is strictly for people who either are learning a programming language for the first time, especially a low level programming language. Also if you have programmed before but not for many years then this book may be perfect for you. If this sounds like you and you want the perfect guide to learning C++, Buy this Book!

This book give a reader a very nice touch of C++. Especially if you are a novice/beginner, this is the one that could help you become a real C++ programmer in a future. The explaination is clear, and the examples are nice and easy to understand. I recommend this one before moving on to the more advanced books like Lippman's C++ Primer and the more advanced books...later on.

Of course, this book has some typos, but I don't really care about this. The content is far more important for me, and it should be for you also.

I just learned C++ 6 months ago and have found this book to be very helpful. I have been a mainframe programmer for 17 years and need to learn everything from the ground up. I have found this book very understandable, readable, and comprehensive from a beginner's point of view.

You don't even realize how much you've learned unless you stoplong enough to take assessment. But you don't want to! That's theamazing thing. This book truly makes c++ FUN! You'll quickly come to know the unique thrill of designing, compiling, and running your own programms from nothing. I suggest you do like I did and try variants of some of the programming excercises they give you, it's so cool when you start grasping the subject so well that you can predict and use what's coming next before reading it! Only one slight diversion: Pointers stumped me for a bit. I found the overview given by this book inadequate. This is easily solved by talking to a local 'guru' like I did or getting online and finding some additional examples. Other than that, this is an outstanding introduction to C++.

This book was written for the beginner. If you have never seen C++ or any other computer language before or don't even have the slightest idea of computers, then read this book. The other customer reviews who gave this book a one star wrote their opinion from a professional point of view -- which is not the intended audience of this book. If you are an expert on C and C++ read another book. Beginners need a simple picture of C++ not tedious paragraphs. To understand the basics of the C++ language, a beginner needs only two things: 1) A simple summary of the command, and 2) an example. Unless your IQ is less than zero, then you will need extra help. C++ is a very complicated language; in other words, learning C++ is a never ending process -- you can be a professional and still learn new things about it; you can be a Phd. professor and still search for an explanation; you can even be working for Microsoft and still make new discoveries. As beginners, we want something quick. This book is like the first step on a long stairway. And if the beginner decides to pursue the depths of C++, the best resource would be your peers, colleagues, professors, and nowadays, we have the internet -- websites and chatrooms galore. All you have to do is ask. Besides, like basketball, the C++ language is self learned -- beginners need practice, practice, practice.

This must be the first book on programming that I actually managed to read from start to finish, and I have tried a few.

Very good coverage of a gread deal of subjects, very easy to read.

The explanations are very clear, most examples are very illustrative, and yet easy to follow. I do recommend anyone reading the book to try the examples on their own (well, with a little peek in the book when in doubt...).

The book also highlights potential compatibility issues between compilers (such as GNU G++, MS VC++ 5.0,...), which is great and helpful when trying out the examples. I personally used GNU G++ in a Linux environment, and found most of the examples working as presented in the book (only a few exceptions, especially in Chapter 15 on the STL).

Each chapter has got a review section with 10-15 questions on the contents of the chapter, to which the answers can be found in an Appendix.

The writing style of the author is very natural: everything seems logical, and plain simple (most of the time).

The examples are sometimes too simple to my liking, but then again, that is a very subjective topic.

A few remarks:

- As has been highlighted by other readers, there are some typos, but not that many (some would say that one is one too many, but after having read the "SAMS Teach Yourself Visual Basic in 21 days", I really don't feel like complaining about "C++ Primer Plus);

- While the first 12 chapters are "light", the last 4 are not for the faint-hearted: the material covered is indeed heavy, and requires a lot of concentration. I found that I spent at least as much time on "studying" these last 4 chapters as I did on the rest of the book;

- Some examples in the text do suffer from inadequacies, and if you try the example code as it is in the book, you get compiler errors. This remark does not apply to the "full listing" examples, but to small code snippets withint the text body. Most of the time, these inadequacies are obvious and do not impact the understanding;

- Some chapters do not go into enough detail (again, to my liking, and again, it is subjective). An example is the coverage of Exceptions: there is very little in the book about the interaction between exceptions and constructors, and yet, I would have personnally thought pertinent to give a few examples of the types of exceptions a constructor can throw. In particular, there is no mention of the impact of throwing an exception from within a constructor.

These are the reasons why I did not give 5 stars, but the book is, by all means, a reference that I am sure I will go back to time and time again.

Enjoy the reading.