Starting Out with C++: Early Objects (7th Edition) [Paperback]

Tony Gaddis (Author), Judy Walters (Author), Godfrey Muganda (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0136077749 | ISBN-13: 978-0136077749 | Publication Date: March 4, 2010 | Edition: 7

Tony Gaddis’s accessible, step-by-step presentation helps beginning students understand the important details necessary to become skilled programmers at an introductory level. Gaddis motivates the study of both programming skills and the C++ programming language by presenting all the details needed to understand the “how” and the “why”—but never losing sight of the fact that most beginners struggle with this material. His approach is both gradual and highly accessible, ensuring that students understand the logic behind developing high-quality programs.

In Starting Out with C++: Early Objects, Gaddis covers objects and classes early after functions and before arrays and pointers. As with all Gaddis texts, clear and easy-to-read code listings, concise and practical real-world examples, and an abundance of exercises appear in every chapter. This text is intended for either a one-semester accelerated introductory course or a traditional two-semester sequence covering C++ programming.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Gaddis Books—Understanding from the Start!

Tony Gaddis's best-selling Starting Out With... series provides accessible, detailed presentations of programming concepts using an approach that will increase the confidence and competence of beginning programmers.

The Starting Out With... series includes textbooks that meet most course and teaching styles.

Starting Out with C++: Early Objects, 7th Edition ©2011

ISBN-13: 978-0-13-607774-9
ISBN-10: 0-13--607774-9

This book is ideal for a multi-term Introduction to Programming course or an accelerated one-semester course that introduces object-oriented programming early.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Introduces object early— students learn to write classes and create objects in Chapter 7 before covering arrays and pointers.
• Covers both procedural and object-oriented programming.
• NEW! The VideoNotes integrated with this text help augment students' understanding of difficult topics by stepping through programming examples and problem solutions. Icons throughout the text— and a table inside the front cover— show which topics are expanded in a VideoNote. VideoNotes are available on this book's Companion Website at www.pearsonhighered.com/gaddis.

Starting Out with C++: Brief Version 6th Edition ©2010
ISBN-13: 978-0-13--602253-4
ISBN-10: 0-13-602253-7

This book fits a one-semester Introduction to Programming course that introduces procedural programming before objects.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Covers procedural programming—control structures, functions, and pointers—before presenting objects.
• Introduces objects late— students learn to write classes in Chapter 13.
  
  Starting Out with Games and Graphics in C++ 1st Edition ©2010
  ISBN-13: 978-1-321-51291-8
  ISBN-10: 0-321-51291-X
  
  This book employs graphical examples and simple, complete video games to teach introductory programming skills and C++.
  
  HIGHLIGHTS:
  • Uses a late-objects approach, ensuring that students grasp programming fundamentals before moving on to more powerful object-oriented concepts.
  • Incorporates graphics, animation, audio, and game programming to motivate students.
  
  
  Starting Out with C++: From Control Structures through Objects 6th Edition ©2009
  ISBN-13: 978-0-321-54588-6
  ISBN-10: 0-321-54588-5
  
  This book is perfect for a multi-term Introduction to Programming course that includes coverage of data structures.
  
  HIGHLIGHTS:
  • Covers procedural programming—control structures, functions, and pointers— before presenting objects.
  • Includes four chapters covering data structures topics—linked lists, stacks and queues, recursion, and binary trees.,/li>
  • VideoNotes step students through programming examples and problem solutions.

About the Author

Judy Walters is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. In addition to her many computer science courses, she enjoys teaching a freshman course on film and literature. She also enjoys studying foreign languages and cultures, and recently developed a new course in technology and society, which she taught in Costa Rica Fall 2005, as part of the college's international studies program.

Godfrey Muganda is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, where he chairs the Computer Science Department. He teaches a wide variety of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels including courses in Object-Oriented Programming, Comparative Programming Languages, and Complier Design. His primary research interests are in the Fuzzy Sets and Systems. He won the North Central College faculty award for outstanding scholarship in 1993.

Tony Gaddis is the principal author of the Starting Out with series of textbooks. Tony teaches computer science courses at Haywood Community College in North Carolina. He is a highly acclaimed instructor who was previously selected as the North Carolina Community College "Teacher of the Year,” and has received the Teaching Excellence award from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. Besides C++ books, the Starting Out with series includes introductory books using the Java™ programming language, Microsoft^® Visual Basic^® .NET, and Microsoft^® C#^®, all published by Addison-Wesley.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1200 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley; 7 edition (March 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0136077749
• ISBN-13: 978-0136077749
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > C

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I would not use this book as a text for a course in C++, July 3, 2010

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Starting Out with C++: Early Objects (6th Edition) (Paperback)

I am a long-term veteran of the debates over whether computer science students should take C before C++ as well as the more recent move to introduce objects early in introductory programming classes. The two debates are intimately related, for if the student takes C before C++, then there is no need to cover the basics in C++ and objects can be introduced very early. However, if the student has not taken C, then the initial coverage in the C++ class must be variables, fundamental data types, control constructs, the structure of functions and how to call them and pointers. Objects in C++ simply cannot be understood until these matters are firmly in mind, which renders the phrase "early objects" largely unfulfilled.
In this book, the authors are operating on the assumption that the reader has not had C, so there is a great deal of coverage of the fundamentals. Classes are not introduced until page 379 (chapter 7), which renders the title claim of "early objects" somewhat inaccurate. Matters are also rendered somewhat worse as the topic of chapter 8 is "Arrays", chapter 9 is "Searching, Sorting and Algorithm Analysis" and chapter 10 is "Pointers." Objects do not significantly reappear until chapter 11, which is a tactic I strongly disapprove of. The deep understanding of classes and objects is so necessary that in my opinion, all of the background material needed to explain them must be covered before they are mentioned. To introduce them and then leave to cover other non-OOP material is extremely counterproductive. Once OOP is introduced, that should be where the coverage stays, there should be no backtracking.
It is for this reason that I would not use this book as a text in a course in introductory programming with C++.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Beginner: Helpful Code Examples, Clear Explanations, February 27, 2010

By 

Courtney Lednicky "quicksilverlining" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Starting Out with C++: Early Objects (6th Edition) (Paperback)

I took an online C++ class, and was almost entirely able to teach myself with this book despite extremely limited programming experience. The code examples in the book are fully explained and complete. Also, they build up in complexity, using only keywords and structures that have already been explained. Some reviews say the book is too wordy, but I found the reading to be very useful for explaining each concept. Additionally, the book's layout makes it easy to quickly find relevant passages and skip those you may already know!

Like another reviewer, I too am currently using my book as a reference for a Data Structures class. It is much clearer than the official book for that class and covers a surprising amount of the material. I would recommend this book to anyone learning C++.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gentle Introduction to C++, February 19, 2010

By 

J. Alex Lauderdale "Polymath" (Tennessee, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Starting Out with C++: Early Objects (6th Edition) (Paperback)

I like this book because it gives at least a vague explanation of every part of the program structure, rather than leaving parts entirely to faith until later. The book can be a bit wordy, especially if you're already familiar with programming, but what else can one expect from a textbook?

The book also does a good job of gently guiding the reader to understanding, using plenty of code examples throughout.