Customer Reviews

Visual C++6 For Dummies

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Major problem with this book: The first 9 chapters start off very promising, as the writers very painlessly walk you through the Visual C++ program, really setting you up nicely to do some cool Windows programming. (That IS why we use Visual C++, isn't it: ...to create Windows programs?) As you read through the first few chapters, you start to think "Wow, this is going to be great: I've got these Wizards to build these buttons and toolbars and stuff for me, and now I'm going to learn how to fill in the code and use pointers and objects and stuff to make my very own Windows Apps! This will Rock!!! Microsoft will want to hire me tomorrow!!!" And just when you're ready to start learning some programming for Windows in Part II of the book, the authors say "ehhh-EEEEEEEEHHH!!! We ain't gonna be doin' no Windows Programmin', boy: That'd be beyond the scope o' this li'l book! We're gonna spend the rest of our days here learnin' ya' how to program C++ in a Win32 console (Read: Glorified DOS shell)!!!"

Um, excuse me, but if I wanted to learn about objects and scope and pointers and all that fun C++ stuff, wouldn't I just be reading "C++ for Dummies"??? What's the point of showing us how to create a Windows app using Visual C++ if we're just going to spend the rest of the book writing a completely impractical DOS jukebox program, for which, incidentally, they never do provide all of the necessary multimedia files on the CD?

Once you're over that major fault, however, the book does do a rather decent job of explaining the nuts and bolts of pure C++ programming in a simple fashion, with clever little humorous anecdotes and quips to keep it interesting.

Although I'd easily trade in some of the humor for a little actual Windows programming.

BTW, I'm sure the authors are not hillbilies: I just did that for effect. :-)

The content of Visaul C++ 6 for Dummies is not exactly what I expected when I bought the book. I am pretty good with writing my own C++ applications and I was looking for something to help me get around Visual Studio. So I thought, "Why not get a Dummies book that would explain everything in plain English?" Boy, was I wrong. Now, I'm not going to trash the book. I highly recommend it for those of you who have never written C++ applications before. It explains everything from variable declarations to polymorphism. However, if you are the type of person who knows what polymorphism means, then this is not the book for you. With more than 41 chapters, only 9 focus solely on discussing the Visual C++ Developer's Studio, leaving 32 chapters of "How to write C++ code" for those of you who don't know how. I rate this book 2 stars because of this fact. The title should have been "C++ for Dummies--Using Visual C++ 6.0." If you are looking for a Dummies book that helps you out with this topic, then I suggest getting the Quick Reference. It's cheaper and focuses more on the environment (somewhat). Otherwise, if you are looking for a Visual C++ 6.0 book, do what the author says and get the Visaul C++ 6.0 Bible.

As most of the other people who reviewed this book have said DON'T BUY IT TO LEARN HOW TO CREATE WINDOWS APPLICATIONS. It only teaches you how to use the visual C++ program- it only gives you enough knowledge to be able to create and compile programs. It doesn't teach you the 'how' of creating windows applications, using MFC, using Winsock, using ActiveX etc.

So what does it do? It attempts to teach the begginer to programming the C++ language. Part 2 of the book (part 1 teaches you how to compile and debug programs in VC++ 6, part 4 is really an appendix with a glossary and some help to fix common errors) makes a good effort at teaching C++. The author's sense of humour brings it down-to-earth enough to be readable without getting in the way too much. However I found that often they moved too fast. They explained the basic concepts well- by relating them to everday things it was easy to get your head around the concepts. The problem was that in some cases they moved too quickly over the practical implementation of these concepts- leaving the poor begginer programmer at the mercy of C++'s cryptic syntax. This happens a lot in Part 3 which teaches the concepts of object oriented programming in C++. The other problem was the jukebox application (the example program used throughout the book) began to get insanely complicated in part 3- giving the reader the urge to skip over it. This book will teach you C++ -if you put enough hard work into it-but to learn to make windows applications you will need to buy another book. It's probably more cost effective to get that Beggining Visual C++ 6 book by Ivor Horton that everyone goes on about which will teach you the whole lot in one go.

This book takes the ever interesting and entertaining "for dummies" viewpoint and attempts to make Visual C++ 6.0 and OOP a bit easier to swallow. The book is broken up into 3 main sections, the first a rather handy guide to the many different menus and wizards that Visual C++ 6.0 has to offer. The second section is probably the best part for new programmers, offering good (albeit brief) examples of using C style programming. The writers decided to use an ever increasingly complex Jukebox program for their examples instead of the old and hackneyed "Hello World" programs. The code examples are well documented and the CD included with the book has all of the authors example code as well as some useful demo programs for C++ programmers. Section 3 would have to be the big letdown of the book. Section 3 discusses Object Oriented Programming, and while the authors explanations are clear enough, the authors introduce too much, too fast, which will end up bogging down new programmers in an object oriented nightmare. I do, however, recommend this book as a supplemental guide to new programmers, as the examples and simple language that the book is written in will help students understand the more complex ideals of C++.

I am a complete newbie to programming and this book was a great way to get me off to a good start learning C++. It teaches introductory concepts in an easy-to-understand fashion. However, it focuses very little on the Visual C++ interface itself, which was OK for me(because I was looking for more of an intro to C++). If you are looking for a Visual C++ help book, don't buy this. If you're looking for a C++ book and you are completely new to programming with no prior experience, this book is for you. Also, the chapters were arranged poorly. I started at the first chapter, which is about the Visual C++ interface, and it tells you a whole bunch of stuff to do that I understood none of at all. None of it was explained either(well, it was in later chapters). It would be nice to have a short little description of what these things are in the first section and have references to the chapters for getting more info. about them. I would recommend starting on the second section, which is a C++ intro, then reading to the end of the book, and finally, reading the first section. It avoids the confusion that is gained from reaqding straight through. Finally, I would recommend getting a more thorough book to learn C++ more completely after you have learned the basic concepts with this book. I am following up with Ivor Horton's C++, which looks to be a very promising and complete guide to the language. Overall, this book is a good intro to C++, a fair intro to Visual C++, and a great tool when coupled with a more complete reference.

If you already know C++ and want to learn to make programs that run in the Windows GUI instead of a command line, this book DOES NOT cover that. The most advanced example program provided runs at a command line ! If I had known that, I would not have purchased this book. The book barely touches on menus, buttons, etc, and does not cover how to write a complete Windows program that uses the GUI.

If you don't know C++ at all and want to learn it, this book has lots on C++, but there are much better books out there for learning C++. The coverage of C++ in this book is not sufficient to teach it to someone who is learning it for the first time.

I'm fairly good with the C++ language and I just started learning the Visual C++ system. I bought this book to try to learn how to use the wizards and controls that are available... To my dismay vary few of my questions were answered. The first few chapters are pretty good at explaining how to get started and the VERY basics of some controls and other features but taking his examples and turning them into something that I could use turned out to be impossible without more information... On the otherhand. If you aren't too terribly familiar with the C++ language maybe this book is for you. The last 2/3 of the book is dedicated, not to the visual C++ but, to the C++ language itself... this is more a manual on the C++ language than on the features of Visual C++!

This is undoubtedly the worst C++ book I have seen. It spends so much time being cute and funny (well TRYING to be funny) that it fails to teach the material. It is broken up into many little incomprehensible parts. Each part has a name that does not tell what it is about because the authors are trying to use silly little puns for titles. Nor does the order of the parts contribute to learning anything.
After reading this (well trying to read it) I was more confused than when I started. Stay away from this one at all costs. A better choice is Beginning Visual C++ 6 by Ivor Horton.

Covers too many topics in too little detail. The authors over active sense of humor and use of silly phrases and section titles makes it very difficult for a beginner to know what he is even talking about.

This book is pretty good on C++ syntax, but doesn't do much on actually getting into the MFC and Windows programming side of things. I would highly recommend Sam's Teach Yourself Visual C++ 6.0 for learning the basics of MFC programming.