The first thing you should understand when approaching C++: The Complete Reference is that it is not intended to teach you how to program. As the title would suggest, this book is a comprehensive reference into the features of the C++ language. That is not to say that you can't learn C++ from this book, but if you are looking for an introduction to the language you would probably be better served with purchasing C++ How to Program or another book that adopts more of a teaching style than what you will find in Herbert Schildt's.
However, if you are looking for a book where you can quickly refresh on a topic, find out syntax for a particular casting operator or how to initialize an esoteric function you thought you would never use, this book will never leave the side of your keyboard. I have owned two copies of the Complete C++ Reference. My copy of the third edition has been highlighted, dog eared and had pages copied so many times it's bindings are more or less gone(not that this is indicative of the books quality, just my frequent abuse of it). My 4th edition copy is well on it's way to looking like the other one as there is not a day that goes by I don't open it up for something.
The book begins with a comprehensive overview of the C language, wholly separated from any C++ concepts. This section concludes around one quarter of the way through and the real meat of the book begins. After giving a birds-eye view of the C++ language, Schildt dives straight into classes and doesn't look back. Every topic is hit with vigor and tenacity until the C++ section of the book is complete. The next three hundred pages are dedicated to the STL and standard function library. Both of these sections are about as complete as it gets without getting a dedicated book on the topic(these do exist). The standard fuction library section is an excellent quick hit reference with function prototypes, a quick description of the function and the related functions arranged into chapters for ease of use. The last of the book's real content is in two excellent exercise chapters where the author goes through the process of creating your own string and parser classes. Both chapters are a joy to read with special attention paid to the design of these classes rather than merely being a code dump. After completing both, you should have a real understanding of how to create your own new data types in a way that falls in line with C++ concepts.
To the reviewers who have given this book a bad rating based on perceived incompleteness, I am really not certain what more the author can do. At around 1000 pages the book is already massive. However, given the complexities of the C++ language, there is bound to be one or two things that slip through the cracks. When you can find books that only focus on one aspect of the C++ language that easily span hundreds of pages, to expect this book to cover literally every topic on C++ is a fairly unreasonable expectation. For most users there will never be a language feature you will use that is not covered in detail in this book. If there is, it will be such an infrequent occurrence that you can forgive the author for not including it.
The one problem I do have with this book is that it is beginning to show it's age a bit. This is perhaps best illustrated in the supplemental chapter on the managed c++ extensions. Microsoft has declared these extensions deprecated in favor of C++/CLI. While this section is only four pages, it is nevertheless a reminder that this book is now several years old. You will find no information on the upcoming C++ standard anywhere in this book, and with the new language features, this will be a problem in the future. That being said, the current version does give you a wealth of information on the current ISO standard which will remain relevant even when the new standard is finalized. This edition will serve you well until the inevitable 5th edition is released in the future. Even with these minor complaints the book easily earns five stars. This is especially reflected in it's low price compared to many other programming books of lesser quality. If you are going to purchase one C++ book that will last you all the way through school or your career, C++: The Complete Reference deserves your full consideration.
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Gerry Wolff
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