Problem Solving with C++ (6th Edition) [Paperback]

Walter Savitch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0321412699 | ISBN-13: 978-0321412690 | Edition: 6

Problem Solving with C++ is the most-widely used textbook by students and instructors in the introduction to programming and C++ language course. Through each edition, hundreds and thousands of users have valued Walt Savitch's unparalleled motivational writing style and his extensive use of case studies, examples, exercises and projects that instill good programming habits. Created for the beginner, this book focuses on problem solving and programming techniques, in addition to the programming language.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Introductory Programming / C++

 

Problem Solving with C++, Sixth Edition

Walter Savitch

 

Walter Savitch’s Problem Solving with C++ is the most widely used textbook for the introduction to programming in C++ course.

 

These are just a few of the reasons why:

“My students and I love this textbook. Savitch makes the material so accessible, and he does it with a great sense of humor that we all enjoy. My students tell me that they finally have purchased a college textbook where they’ve gotten their full money’s worth.”

–Jennifer Perkins, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

 

“Our school has used the Savitch text for many years, and it has been well received by both faculty and students. Walter Savitch explains difficult programming concepts in a clear and concise manner and discusses all the important features of the C++ language.”

–Carol Roberts, University of Maine

 

“Writing a book is an art if, and only if, it can create an artist. Savitch’s book does just this. It contains fundamental materials presented in a pleasant way in which not only the flow consistency, but also the example consistency, is preserved.”

–Coskun Bayrak, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

 

“The progression from programming basics to object-oriented concepts is logical and effectively leads beginning C++ students to an understanding of classes and more advanced topics.”

–Stephen Weissman, Burlington County College

 

This Sixth Edition features:

• Savitch’s unparalleled clear and concise writing style

• Extensive use of examples, exercises, and projects to promote good programming practice

• Earlier coverage of loops and arrays

• Enhanced discussion of debugging

• All code updated to be ANSI/ISO compliant

• Two new programming projects per chapter

 

 

MyCodeMate is a web-based, textbook-specific homework tool and programming resource for an introduction to programming course. It provides a wide rangeof tools that students can use to help them learn programming concepts, prepare for tests, and earn better grades in the introductory programming course.

Students can work on programming problems from this text or homework problems created by their professors, and receive guided hints with page references and English explanations of compiler errors. Instructors can assign textbook-specific or self-created homework problems, preset style attributes, view students’ code and class compiler error logs, and track homework completion. A complimentary subscription is offered when an access code is ordered packaged with a new copy of this text. Subscriptions may also be purchased online. For more information visit www.myCodeMate.com.

About the Author

Walter Savitch is Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the University of California San Diego. He received his PhD in mathematics from the University of California Berkeley in 1969. Since that time he has been on the faculty of the University of California San Diego (UCSD). He served as director of the UCSD Interdisciplinary PhD program in cognitive science for over ten years. He has served as a visiting researcher at the computer science departments of the University of Washington in Seattle and at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and has been a visiting scholar at the Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica in Amsterdam. Contributing author, Kenrick Mock, is an Associate Professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He has also taught at Washington State University, Portland State University, and the University of California Davis. He teaches undergraduate computer science courses across the curriculum including introductory C++, Java(t), Visual Basic(r) for non-programmers, algorithms, computer security, and artificial intelligence. With the Coastal Marine Institute at UAA, he helped develop a computer system to aid in research about Alaska sea ice and the atmosphere. Before becoming a teacher, Mock was a research scientist and software engineer at Intel(t). He received a PhD in computer science from UC Davis.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1056 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 6 edition (March 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321412699
• ISBN-13: 978-0321412690
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #415,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best C++ Textbooks I've bought, September 10, 2008

By 

Robert Schaefer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Problem Solving with C++, 7th Edition (Paperback)

I have a stack of at least a dozen textbooks on C++ or C#, from O'Reilly's C++ Core Language, Keogh & Gray's C++ Programmer's Notebook, the Osbourne McGrawHill C++ Complete Reference, several niche books catering to C++ coding specific to gaming, several Deitel & Deitel C++ Programming books (which are generally very good), to starters like SAMS Teach Yourself C++ and probably an old copy of C++ for Dummies. I've also got a full version of Visual Studio 2005 & 2008 (available in express editions for free from http://www.microsoft.com/express, and several Borland IDE releases, along with seven or eight books purporting to explain everything there is to know about each IDE.

I recently bought Walter Savichs' Problem Solving with C++, 7th Ed. It's unusual in my experience to find myself reading textbooks as though they are the next sci-fi/fantasy hit but this book really caught my attention. I love the straight forward, common sense manner in which the author writes, and the fact that he doesn't preach from the pulpit of the ultimate know-it-all. In this book, the essentials of the C++ language are laid out in a manner that I believe anyone familiar with most any scripting language or another high-level language can pick up quite rapidly.

The author does the very difficult task of reaching out in a way that ensures the majority of readers understand regardless of their level of familiarity. I'm not sure how he does it but each page leaves you understanding--and wanting more. There are a number of code examples that have practical application and the author has done a very good job of making them understandable. More importantly however, he presents the C++ coding samples in a way that allow you to easily imagine the use of the same or similar code to solve different problems than were shown in the text. I believe it should be used in most every college programming class. It is certainly a worthy addition to any programmer's library.

Lastly, the book comes with Borland's Turbo C++ IDE and all the source code on cd, as well as online videos and other resources. I rarely comment on the many items I purchase on Amazon, so please realize that it takes a remarkable product to cause me to take my limited time to write a review. I hope anyone purchasing the book finds it as interesting and helpful as I.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book to start learning C++, November 26, 2007

By 

Kab00m "Kab00m" (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Problem Solving with C++ (6th Edition) (Paperback)

This was my first foray into C++, and I used this text for both the Intro and Advanced courses at my school. It's a good text because he explains the concepts, shows examples, warns against "gotchas," and gives stepping-stone assignments to build skills. I don't recall any pap or filler material to waste time over. It's solid without feeling like it was written by a robot.

Now that I've completed the book, I'm going to work back through it on my own and do more of the assignments to keep my skills sharp. Any book that helps one understand the concepts well enough to be kept for a reference is a good one.

If you are an absolute beginner, I wouldn't recommend starting with C++. Otherwise, this book should be a good start for you, too.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, slighly misleading title, January 9, 2011

By 

HonestAnonymous X. (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Problem Solving with C++, 7th Edition (Paperback)

This is a beginners learn C++ book. It think it would work well for someone who has never programmed, though there is enough thoughtful details that a programmer wouldn't be bored with the beginners information at the start of the book.

The writing style and explanations are very clear and concise ith an appropriate number of useful examples. I would recommend this to someone wishing to learn C++, of which I have had a hard time finding a good book on. I wish I found this years ago instead of the other ones that I have, which have been painful to learn from -- hence why I am still not very C++ savvy.

It does not teach you C first, which is preferable in my view (though I love C and am C savvy). It dives right in to the C++ feature set and does utilize the C++ STL (Standard Template Library) right from the start (isn't a C printf statement anywhere in the book). It does appear to go deep into many things. Here are a few of what I would consider important chapters (overall chapter topics): variables, looping & flow control & branching, functions, streams, arrays, string class & vectors, classes, inheritance, namespaces, nodes and linked lists, recursion, and exception handling to name a few of the 18 chapters.

The 'slightly misleading title' is the "Problem Solving" part of the title. "Problem Solving with C++" doesn't sound like a beginners book, it sounds like and advanced book that teaches new problems solving concepts and techniques to those who already know C++. Something like "Learning C++ With A Problem Solving Approach" would be more appropriate for this book.

I am 100 pages into this book (which went very smoothly), therefore will update this review in future. It only lost one star because of the title and because I haven't read the whole thing yet. So far I think it's an outstanding C++ book.