Not bad as an introduction to C++

This book does a fairly decent job of introducing new programmers to various C++ topics such as data types, flow control, functions and object-oriented development. It was pretty easy to absorb (with the obligatory struggle on pointers, of course), and I feel it gave me a pretty good start to learning more about C++.

On the other hand there were a few places in the book where the flow seemed to be just right, when all of a sudden a concept would be introduced that kind of seemed out of place or plugged in after the book was finished, as it was not nearly as well presented or explained as the reader had grown accustomed to seeing in the rest of the book. It would usually be only a brief departure, but each time it left me scratching my head and flipping back through several previous pages, wondering what I had missed. One example is the discussion regarding memory usage and the heap. I saw the disclaimer (paraphrasing) "This example is shown as an abstract diagram, because we are talking about an object, rather than a string literal." Used several times throughout that chapter, without ever being provided any explanation on why that point is even significant.

While the example code was straightforward enough and did serve to demonstrate the author's points, it often lacked enough context to provide a thorough understanding of the topic. For example, seeing the way pointers and references behave differently is good information, but no clue is given as to why or how you would determine which you need in a given situation.

All in all I found the book useful, but I'm certain there are better options out there.

Other Reviews

• 3rd edition? Doesn't look any different from the previous edition
• Total ripoff for a Kindle book
• Not bad as an introduction to C++
• Excellent learning material