Customer Reviews

C++ for You++: An Introduction to Programming and Computer Science

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I used this text to prepare for the 1999 AP Computer Science examination. I found it to be excellent preparation for the exam. However, it must be noted that the text takes many topics beyond the depth required in the exam and if using the text solely for AP preparation, then the AP syllabus should be used as a guide as to how much to emphasize each topic. If the book is thoroughly gone through entirely though, it provides an excellent background for students studying technical fields at the collegiate level.

I had not had any C++ experience prior to using this text, but I did have experience with other programming languages. The subtitle "An Introduction to Programming and Computer Science" may give the impression that the book is for beginning high school programmers. This is not the case though. This book is for students who have elementary programming experience in high school and would like to go beyond this to study computer programming at the collegiate level. The material covered in this text is consistent with introductory programming courses taught in college.

This book poorly explains the concepts needed to understand C++. It is advertised as an introductory book, however, this book will only be useful with one or more semesters of exerpience with C or C++. The books only saving grace is that if you are studying for the AP, this book uses the STL dirived AP classes that you will need to be familar with. If you arn't taking the comp sci AP there is no reason to even consider using this book.

Far better than any comparable text, this volume presents the concepts of computer science with clarity and much detail. Neither bewildering the novice nor boring the expert, C++ For You++ covers all aspects of the AP C++ Exam. Two notable feature of this book are the clarity of the examples used to illustrate the concepts and the absence of numerous typos found in many of its competitors. The authors quickly respond to any questions you might have and maintain a nice web site with updates. I personally used this book to prepare for the AP Exam my senior year in high school, and found it instrumental to understanding the language. My teacher had selected a different book, but it was so horrible in comparison that several of my friends and I used copies of this book instead and saved ourselves a lot of trouble.

The problem with the book is not with how much material it covers, but with how well it covers the material. Most good computer books that I have read have covered a topic and then gone to explain something step by step using examples and multiple scenarios, but I feel this book just gives a "it works because it does" attitude.

C++ for You++ is a wonderful book. I don't know what the people who gave it 1/5 stars were thinking.

The difference between it and other introductory books becomes apparent from the very beginning of the book.

THe typical approach in intro programming books is to begin with a completely useless "Hello World" program. I don't know about others, but I generally feel like I'm being talked down to if the book assumes that I am too dumb to be able to undestand anything more.

People learn a language not to write "hello world", but useful, more complex code.

C++ For You++ starts off with a "dictionary" program. At first glance, this looks overwhelming. But as one starts to read the explanations and description that the book gives of what all the pieces of code do , and how they interact, it reason and meaning of the code becomes apparent.

This approach allows for a very rapid ascent to a level where very useful programs can be written. Other books I have read waste much more time pre-chewing everything for the student, and take a lot longer to start giving useful information.

When I picked up this book, my programming experience was confined to a very superficial study of Pascal (a couple of weeks worth of studying). Using this book, I was mastered enough C++ in three weeks to be able to outcompete the other AP C++ students in my class, who had had a *year* of high school level C/C++ class time, and were were using other books.

The examples and problems given are also excellent. Someone complained they are too hard. That's not true. They take thought, that is true, but isn't that the whole point? And we all know how brilliant those programmers at big companies such as the one reffered to by one of the reviewers always are, don't we? ;-)

Oh yes. This book covers some things that are NOT on the AP test (namely inheritance), in addition to the stuff on it. I think this was a great decision on the part of the authors, as inheritance is a fundamental part of C++ and OOP.

Most books out there are mere study aids for the AP test. This book actually teaches people to program in C++. And once you know C++, then it isn't much of a problem to demolish the AP test.

This is a pretty good book to prepare for Ap ComputerScience. It thoroughly covers all of the topics included on A and AB Computer Science exam. Most of the schools teach only up to A level, but if you want to save some money and time, purchase this book, study, and take the AB exam. Although pointers seem to confuse most of the beginning programers (and some decide become physiology teachers), its really not that hard. A good book to accompony this one, is Visual C++® 6 For Dummies®. Also, I highly recommend to download a couple of AP exams and practice with them... The only regret of this book is, that as an independently learning student you do not receive complete answers to most of the project assignments used in this book.

I recently purchased this book for a class at school and when i started to read it the first thing it does is launch you into hexidecimal to binary conversions. Then in chapter 2 the first example they give you is a program that takes up THREE pages at a small font. The program is a dictionary that reads from a file on the hardisk (a relitevely hard task in any langauge). And then makes what you type in translate to italian. They don't even consider that someone new to the langauge has no idea what COUT or CIN means.

This book is written with the AP Computer Science Examinations in mind and therefore covers most of the basic topics that are tested on the AP examinations. However, it is poorly written and contains several inconsistencies. The fragmented explanations of working with text files are wholly inadequate. The section concerning the use of pointers and references is highly superficial and provides little in terms of true understanding of these concepts. The chapter on inheritance is unecessary because this is not part of the APCS subset and therefore is not tested on the AP exams. There are much better choices.

Simply perfect. Easy to read, simple to understand, and with helpful problems. The instruction is topnotch- the best book I've encountered.

I find the book does not explain the concepts in a straightforward manner. Further, it lacks enough examples to show how the concepts work. Without these, it is very difficult for me to learn. I plan to buy another text to teach myself as this book is totally inadequate.
I use the AP version of this textbook in AP Computer Science. The only way this version is different from the standard is that it includes explanations for a special set of AP classes.