Programming and Problem Solving With C++ [Paperback]

Nell B. Dale (Author), Chip Weems (Author), Mark Headington (Author), Nell Dale (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0763702927 | ISBN-13: 978-0763702922 | Publication Date: August 14, 1996 | Edition: 1st

Computer Science

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nell Dale, Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin

Chip Weems, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Mark R. Headington, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1155 pages
• Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Pub; 1st edition (August 14, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763702927
• ISBN-13: 978-0763702922
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.6 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,305,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars take it for what it is, October 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Programming and Problem Solving With C++ (Paperback)

I am in my fourth term of learning C++, and this book was theone required for my first two terms. I came into the program at myUniversity with no programming experience at all, and I was able to quickly understand basic concepts by having a great instructor and reading (and re-reading) this book. While not a great reference, I still consult it for basic concepts I might forget after a long break. If you view it for what it is -- an introductory book -- then I highly recommend it. I found the sections on looping and other conditionals very helpful that first term; functions were handled well, too. This is a book to read and re-read. If the class construct freaks you out, then read that chapter two or three times and you will get the basic idea. A lot of my classmates hated this book -- I never really got a good reason why. Unfortunately, the section on pointers is a little weird, although the info is accurate. I never liked the programming case studies at the end of the chapters either -- they didn't seem to flow well from the chapter material presented. Looking back at the book, especially as an intro book, I can't say enough how well the sections on classes were presented. For some reason, the writing style clicked with me, and the info provided a strong enough basis to further dive into the class construct -- which is an important topic and is the backbone of Abstract Data Types and Object Oriented Programming. Get another book, or a good instructor, for basic pointer concepts. Decent for linked lists. Minimal recursion. From what I've heard, C++ Primer Plus by Prata is a better book in some ways. That's next for me to get.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars C++ Made Fast and Easy!, October 26, 2004

By 

Matthew Dornbush "programmer" (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Programming and Problem Solving With C++, Third Edition (Paperback)

You can't float everyone's boat with a C++ book. As far as intro books goes there are around 40 or so of them, they cover the same material but differently. Some are better then others obviously, and the market is there to keep making more intro c++ books.

That said, even though this book is 1100 some pages, it's an easy read. Yes you can actually read this book, amazing. I read pretty fast... IF an author will offer a complete train of thought. Most textbooks don't, they leave you scratching your head, staring at a page. Rereading a sentence over and over saying it out loud and you still don't have a clue. And crap, there is no more text to help explain that sentence, it just sits there, like maybe if you think about what it says and reflect in a meadow over the words of the author you may one day understand that sentence. Ok so I got carried away.

Basically the most wonderful thing about this book is you can read it. You can sit down with zero knowledge, and the author will explain to you all you need. Each chapter takes about an hour to read, and more importantly you'll walk away understanding it. AMAZING!!

Content wise, it offers a great introduction to c++ without giving overly complex examples. It covers all of the intro level areas of C++ in great depth. If you actually read this book you won't be left in the dark. Thing is most people with textbooks or technical books like this read different parts and just jump into doing stuff. With a readable textbook like this there is no excuse not to go cover to cover. (I did)

The great thing about it is it touches on some of the more complex areas of c++ and if you read it, you have enough knowledge of the basics that when you get into advanced stuff you see how it all fits together. Getting basics down in something like C++ is important. People who say it says too much and covers too little don't understand the point of this book. That is, to teach a beginner all of the basics of C++. The details that some complain of, well those details are important, like it or not C++ is a detailed intricate language the least a book can offer is a firm understanding for other books.

Which is exactly what this book is just the beginning. If you've used other C++ textbooks but feel you may not have gotten the whole picture reading through this book cover to cover can help. If you're completely new to C++ and programming. Then get this book. It assumes a you know nothing attitude, and brings you up to speed in many areas of computers as well as programming. Scattered throughout the book are various tips to increase your view of programming and software design in general. Once again opening up doors to more advanced areas of study, giving you the big picture.

So if you want to start learning c++ get this book... and now some good book advice if you don't know what to buy, or where to start.

I'd recommend Beginning Visual C++ 6 by Ivor Horton
Even though the first 1/3 of it will be review it covers pointers more in depth as well as offering more complex examples. Even if you know c++ syntax it's still a challenging book. It then delves into windows programming and all the stuff a programmer would need to know about windows so as not to be ignorant.
Once again here the idea is to bring you up to speed.
Horton's book is not a fast read like this book, but very useful if you want a next step.

Then get a book on Data Abstraction the one by Adam Drozdek is an amazingly readable yet complete book on the subject.
From there you may be ready to browse through Bjarne Stroustrup's "The c++ programming language" if you were a beginner, in about 50 pages this book would be way over your head. It's an important book. Not only for c++ but to understand how the language was designed.

Moving onto Effective C++ and Exceptional C++ is a good move as well.
From there move onto books such "Design Patterns" is essential.

After that it's a matter of specialization. If you've made it that far you definitely a true programmer by now, and any language you pick up will be much easier with this kind of knowledge. Programming is a skill and even though most programming books overlap, this is good, each one will show you something new, provided you move beyond intro books.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The E-plan for learning C++ (E for easy), January 7, 2000

By 

S.K. Jain - See all my reviews

This review is from: Programming and Problem Solving With C++ (Paperback)

From my own experience I would say try learning C++ from a set of books instead of just one book. Try reading the following books in sequence:

Getting Started with C++ Programming Language (S.K. Jain)

An Introduction to Programming with C++ (Diane Zak)

Programming and Problem Solving with C++ (Nell Dale)

It's bound to click.