The best book - for a beginner

The best way for a beginner to learn a language as beautiful and as challenging as C++ is by asking questions. Steve Heller tries (and I must say, successfully) to achieve the same by adding one-on-one conversations with a beginner. And by having these conversations, Steve has got a chance to answer even those beginner questions that a seasoned programmer would ignore as being too obvious.

One more very important element in teaching a beginner is to get him some hands on. The "Home Inventory Project" does precisely that.

Another factor that caught my eyes just when I opened the book was that this book doesn't try to spoon feed the C++ language, it tries to help the beginner see and realize 'Programming'. It helps the beginner understand the flow in which the program would run. I've seen so many "so called" C++ programmers who don't even know what a 16-bit register means.

Overall, a great book, but only for a beginner. C++ is a language that is really harsh on a beginner, and so, teaching the same to someone who might not have written a single piece of code before, is a tough task. Steve has done a great job in doing so. But this book can't be a C++ reference as some reviewer said. Stroustrup's The C++ Programming Language is still THE reference that one needs.

I sincerely think Steve should consider helping the seasoned programmers by coming up with a "C++: A Dialog++" now.

Other Reviews

• Well done for a limited audience
• C++: A Dialog, by Steve Heller
• The best book - for a beginner
• A very nice Book for Beginners