( 5 reviews )
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( 4 of 5 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 31 2005
This book was a required textbook for a college class I was taking & I was far from satisfied. Whenever I wanted to quickly reference a subject the index was utterly useless. It does not cover major functions & has no cenralized reference section for commands. The authors are knowledgable, yet they sometimes don't do a good job in directly addressing issues. There were times when, after reading over a section a couple of times, it didn't seem to make sense and when I finally understood what they were trying to convey, I thought they could have got the point across by being more direct & not adding unneccessary wordiness. The included software was apparently an afterthought as the menu system takes you to dead links (on the same disc). Hopefully it was just my disc alone, because I cannot understand how such a serious & obvious flaw could escape the publishers. Thankfully I found you can still download the (trial) software off their site on the internet, after you surrender your name, address, phone number, your blood type and your favorite flavor of coffee. Yet even then I could never get it to work because you need a registration key that they won't issue you unless you have a CD (that works). Although there is plenty of information in this book, the information is not easily accesssable & the software seems too slapped together considering the expensive pricetag.
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Sep 25 2004
The nature of this text is not only for an individual to learn C++ programming, but able to understand what is written in all program examples given. However, because there are so many good examples, the reader may feel overwhelmed by all lessons in the book, where simple concepts may be hard to acquire.The Deitels certainly know the language very well, but I think they overlook their audience at times, and lose focus on the student's ability to learn everything all in one session.Their intention was well thoughtout for teaching C++, but in too many words for each chapter. Overall I was able to understand the basics of C++, and I pickup some helpful hints, but certainly has drawbacks. First, the reader will have to remember the notes from the summary in every chapter, or learn them very well. Second, each code example follows up to explain how the compiler deals with code. I feel only experienced programmers will benefit from this, and could be left out, with more focus upon what the program can actually do for each line typed, as opposed to how compiler sees each line of code.Reason for this is that your dealing variables mostly, and the ability by the reader to learn something, as opposed to spelling it out, word for word seems redundant over time.I would reccomend this title to intermediate programmers, or an individual who has some experience with "C" only. It's an excellent text for learning by example, however for a novice programmer, begin with the "C" language first, it makes a world of difference later on. I purchased "Learning C++ Visually", which came with this book, and four instructional video tapes. If I had to learn it all over again, I would buy this book.
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( 0 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Dec 11 2003
I am studing computer science and this book has been a lot of help. The examples are easy to follow and the book guide you beutifully. It is an excellent book for rookies and for those who want to learn how to program.
