When I first wanted to learn C++, I pulled up a free online tutorial and worked my way through it. I got nothing out of it and only got as far as writing half a program afterwards. I bought this book wanting to give it another try and was not dissapointed at all. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a solid grasp of the language whether you have some or no programming experience. The author writes clearly and covers all the angles. There is a very short example on almost every page demonstrating the new concepts so you get a good idea of how to structure your code. Stephen Prata makes it look a lot easier than it is, but thats what the practice exercises are for at the end. The examples are so consistant (written with good structure) that it rubs off on you when you start writing your own code (which is the idea). I'm not in school, nor do I work with programmers so its vital to have clear, well written code to learn from. The practice exercises at the end of each chapter help you reinforce the material you've just learned so it sticks with you. The sequence of the material is laid out in a way that its easy to absorb and progress step by step.
What I disliked the most about the book was that not all the practice exercices are answered in the downloadable document. It will list 2 or 3 out of 6 which I don't understand. I can work my way around almost any programming problem, but it can be sloppy and that can lead to bad habbits. Since hands-on is the best way of learning anything, I just don't understand why he didn't take the time to write out all the solutions so that after you solve it you can review where you made mistakes or how you can improve. This does not outweigh the good at all, I just thought it was odd. Also towards the end of the book, Chapters 15-17, you start seeing more and more typos. I'm surprised these simple mistakes didn't get ironed out in the editing (but again these do not draw away from the effectiveness of the book)
If you want to learn C++, this is the book to get. The author not only goes over the technical syntax, but goes in depth about the general approach of Object Oriented Programming. C++ is a huge language and you cannot absorb it all from an online tutorial. With this book, you will not only learn how to write effective code, but you'll understand why its effective. I have a much better understanding of the OOP philosophy and thats extremely important because that can be applied to many other languages. And these philosophies are reiterrated again and again throughout the book to help you understand them. I also gained a better perspective on the differences between C and C++. If your like me, I don't want to just copy lines of code, I want to have a thorough understanding of the reasoning behind the code.
If you are new to programming and want a solid foundation to start with (whether its C++ or another language your interested in) this is the book you should get.
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