C++ Primer (5th Edition) 5th Edition

by Stanley Lippman (Author), Josée Lajoie (Author), Barbara Moo (Author)

789 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0321714114

ISBN-10: 0321714113

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Bestselling Programming Tutorial and Reference Completely Rewritten for the New C++11 Standard

Fully updated and recast for the newly released C++11 standard, this authoritative and comprehensive introduction to C++ will help you to learn the language fast, and to use it in modern, highly effective ways. Highlighting today’s best practices, the authors show how to use both the core language and its standard library to write efficient, readable, and powerful code.

C++ Primer, Fifth Edition, introduces the C++ standard library from the outset, drawing on its common functions and facilities to help you write useful programs without first having to master every language detail. The book’s many examples have been revised to use the new language features and demonstrate how to make the best use of them. This book is a proven tutorial for those new to C++, an authoritative discussion of core C++ concepts and techniques, and a valuable resource for experienced programmers, especially those eager to see C++11 enhancements illuminated.

Start Fast and Achieve More

Learn how to use the new C++11 language features and the standard library to build robust programs quickly, and get comfortable with high-level programming
Learn through examples that illuminate today’s best coding styles and program design techniques
Understand the “rationale behind the rules”: why C++11 works as it does
Use the extensive cross-references to help you connect related concepts and insights
Benefit from up-to-date learning aids and exercises that emphasize key points, help you to avoid pitfalls, promote good practices, and reinforce what you’ve learned

Access the source code for the extended examples from informit.com/title/0321714113

C++ Primer, Fifth Edition, features an enhanced, layflat binding, which allows the book to stay open more easily when placed on a flat surface. This special binding method—notable by a small space inside the spine—also increases durability.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stanley B. Lippman has retired back to the Catalina Foothills where he is working on EEEK!, a computational model of the nervous system of the House Mouse, and An Off By One Error, a speculative novel set in the Northwestern Rain Forest. During his professional career, Stanley served as Distinguished Consultant for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Architect for the Visual C++ development group at Microsoft, member of technical staff at Bell Laboratories, two stints in Massive Multiplayer Online Gaming, and a surprisingly long stint in Feature Animation at Disney, DreamWorks, Pixar, and PDI. Stanley will be most remembered for his many years working with Dr. Stroustrup on the implementation of cfront, the standard implementation of C++ until the ISO standard.

Josée Lajoie, now at Pixar, was a member of IBM Canada’s C/C++ compiler development team, and chaired the core language working group for the original ANSI/ISO C++ standardization committee.

Barbara E. Moo has nearly thirty years of software experience. During her fifteen years at AT&T, she worked closely with C++ inventor Bjarne Stroustrup and managed the C++ development team for several years.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Addison-Wesley Professional; 5th edition (August 6, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 976 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0321714113
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0321714114
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.57 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 2 x 9.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #24,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in C++ Programming Language
- #16 in Object-Oriented Design
- #63 in Computer Programming Languages

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789 ratings

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5 star		72%
4 star		13%
3 star		4%
2 star		4%
1 star		6%

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Clyde LeBonz

Dense, Frequently Obscure

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

My preference would be 2.5 stars, but I'll round up. Did not buy from Amazon, but from a local bookstore where I could browse the shelves, so you won't see "verified purchase" here. Twenty-five years ago, I was an expert C programmer, but moved into other areas and never came fully up to speed with C++. I purchased this text to help (1) revive my memory of C/C++ basic syntax and (2) move me into C++ expertise.

I read the first three chapters straight thru, then hit chunks elsewhere. Given the book's size, I'd bet that few of the 5- or 4-star reviewers have read much of the text in detail.

The book is quite good in sections, but overly verbose elsewhere. In trying to be precise, the authors are frequently the reverse -- and wordily so! One example is in chapter 2, where classes are introduced, classes being a central concept of OOP languages. The authors define a very simple class consisting only of a few data members, but all their sample code uses the "struct" keyword. Structs pre-existed in C and were widely used. (C Structs are what evolved into C++ classes; they are *almost* but not quite identical to classes.) The problem is that the authors never tell you what a struct is, and keep referring to the struct in their sample code as a "class". Thus, when you see "struct" in their sample code, you must go outside the book to learn what "struct" is and how it differs from a "class". (Google: "c++ struct vs class") Sections like this are obscure and irritating, and there are too many of them.

In parallel with this book, I read Stephen Davis' "C++ for Dummies", which is excellent. Davis' writing is sparse, clear and precise, as are his code examples, and not overly sprinkled with "cutsie" comments. Davis is far better organized. He starts with basics and gradually moves up to complex topics such as copy/move constructors, polymorphism and class templates. Whether programming newbie or experienced C programmer, I'd strongly recommend Davis' book.

46 people found this helpful

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B.K.

An excellent book. Two thumbs up.

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is a very well written book. I'm an experienced programmer (C# and I have had experience with C++ a few years back, but nothing too serious), so it's hard for me to judge this from a beginner's perspective; however, my experience gives me a bit of an insight into what a book should include and how the material should be structured. I know what I want to get out of a book and so it makes it easy for me to judge whether that requirement has been fulfilled. I must say that this book has managed well in every aspect. It does a good job of explaining things well enough, without making it all too dry and boring. Many books do a poor job of focusing too much on some topics to the point where it's unbearable to read them, while failing to cover certain topics in any reasonable detail. I haven't had any issues with this one. It's a pretty thick book (~900 pages of actual material) and it does a good job of putting it all together. It feels like it was written by real working human beings, rather than some academic poindexter with no real-life experience. There's no pointless humor and at the same time there is absolutely no attempt at sounding superior in any of explanations in attempt to impress the reader. This book is a very easy read. I am incredibly picky on books and it's not easy to please me -- I haven't found any faults worth of mentioning with this book. I don't think a beginner will have too much difficulty with this book and I definitely think that experienced programmers wanting to brush up on their C++ will get a lot out of this. This thing will stay in my library (it's a shame there's no hardcover version, I enjoy those).

As a tip to any beginners, read through the book lightly for the first time. What I mean is that don't attempt to understand everything right away and don't focus too much on the details. Make a note of the areas you had difficulty understanding, do a slight research to see if you can grasp it right away, but don't focus on that too much. You'll be surprised how much of the earlier information will become clear and a second nature to you as you progress further. Once you're done with your first read-through, go back and see if you still don't understand any of the areas you've marked down. I'm sure that you'll be able to eliminate many of them. At this point, focus heavily on the areas you still have difficulty with. Of course, results will vary and not everyone learns the same way, but this has worked out very well for me. That's how I study for everything. I read through any material very lightly the firs time around, to get the general feeling and find the areas I'll be focusing on, and then go back to focus on those details. This strategy helped me maintain 4.0 in Computer Science, so the results are real (but once again, it may vary by person).

79 people found this helpful

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James Cole

Perspective from a beginner

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2020

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I am not a paid shill. I am new to programming and have only dabbled lightly in JavaScript. At time of review I am currently 250 pages into the book.

The Physical:
The physical quality of the book is amazing. The binding really helps the book lay flat while avoiding awkward spiral binding found in some books. The text is printed clearly is and is easy to read.

The Content:
The overwhelming consensus is that C++ is a more difficult language to grasp (than other languages) as a person new to programming. In the little bit of time I have spent learning JavaScript compared to C++, I can confirm that statement as being true.

This book does not provide a magic bullet for grasping unusual concepts. It does however explain everything in detail and in a manner that is clear. Areas of the book can quickly become overwhelming especially if previous information is not clearly understood.

I am currently taking a Udemy course in parallel with reading this book and each learning mechanism compliments the other. I also am referencing a github repository with completed exercises for concepts I am struggling with. Typically I will read 5-6 pages and try to apply that knowledge in a program. I find that if I spend too much time reading without much time practicing the concepts, then the information is lost in memory.

The book has an excellent index in the back that makes using this as a reference manual very appealing.

The book is quite dense and moves over some complicated concepts rather quickly. I am often having to reread paragraphs and practice code to fully understand what the book is trying to tell me. This book is a great resource for someone wanting to learn C++. If you are absolutely new to programming, you will want a second (more) beginner friendly source of information to aid in understanding some difficult concepts.

11 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

David Slaughter

Great book - might be scary to complete beginners.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2020

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This book covers a lot of the core C++ concepts and explains things in good depth and with examples. The beginning of the book immediately introduces a class object which is probably a bit too early to do that and may scare beginners off.

If you are a beginner I would recommend going through learncpp.com before reading this book. If you buy this book as a beginner, persevere past the first chapter. The first chapter will be quite daunting and maybe discouraging at times to a beginner. The chapters immediately after that are a bit easier and help to tie together some ideas introduced in the first chapter.

Overall, a good and thorough book, with no mistakes in it.

5 people found this helpful

Bobby Dazzler

Excellent place to start learning C++

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

Unlike a similar sounding book (C++ Primer plus) I got on better with this. I felt that I was both learning and being pushed at a decent pace. For example pointers are explained in Chapter 2. The other book felt like I was learning C but with the C++ bits bolted onto it. This was like learning C++ as it stands on its own rather than learning C then learning C++ and then unlearning the bits in C that are irrelevant and outdated unless you plan on doing embedded programming or writing a graphics driver. The exercises within it were challenging enough to solidify what is learnt and the activities felt like a real-world exercise rather than something contrived. Reading this book I felt that I was actually learning solid skills that I can translate into something practical. The bonus so far is that all the examples compiled, unless they are specifically not meant to, i.e. as an exercise you will be asked "Why didn't this compile? Why is this command illegal in C++?" . Yes some things will not make sense to begin with but stick with it as it will all fall into place, this is a recommended start into learning C++.

10 people found this helpful

Biscuit brain

The best book for learning C++

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2019

Verified Purchase

I originally learned C++ from this book (2nd edition, 25 years ago), and now I've updated to the 5th edition. It's well written, direct and has no unnecessary waffle. If you've never programmed before I would suggest starting with a different language (C++ is very complex) but for someone with some knowledge of JavaScript or Python this is ideal. I also have Stroustrup's "The C++ Programming Language" and while that book has more hardcore detail, "C++ Primer" is a much better read and far more use for beginners and intermediate programmers.

2 people found this helpful

christopher trilsbach

Training manual not a reference manual.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

Pretty dissapointed in this book as I wanted a C++ reference manual. This book builds an application by adding code on each topic chapter by chapter. The serious downside is that when you look up anything the code examples are not stand alone but always refer to previously discussed functionality so unless you read the book from front to back nothing makes sense. The first chapter on classes is all about using a class and doesn't actually show you it's implementation in the so unless you know a bit about C++ to start with it is incredibly confusing what the hell is going on. This book should be used as a self training course.

Connor

What an amazing book, it covers all the core concepts (as ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

What an amazing book, it covers all the core concepts (as far as I'm aware) of C++. It's a great introduction into the language, and will certainly help, even experienced programmers may learn something new. The book goes into great detail, about most of the points. The only thing I can fault is the first chapter, maybe started a little strong for beginners (friends seem to barely read 5 pages, they get a little bored, and confused about some of the points).

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