Lack of examples dooms it.

I am new to programming and this is the first book on the subject that I have ever purchased. I got to about hour 12 before I had in invest in another book. I don't think the book is horrible and I think up until that point it was doing a pretty good job at getting the point across. However, things started to get bogged down a little for me when it delves ever deeper into the mysteries of pointers. These are very important, but not so much for a total beginner. At the very least, the ideas are difficult to absorb when you have no problems to work with. To me it was sort of like trying to learn Spanish and you learn a 1000 words but have never tried to string together a sentence. Soon you will find yourself forgetting all the words you learned. I have since bought Beginning C++ by Dawson and have really been pleased. That being said, there were things in the first book that are not mentioned in the second and I think I was helped that I went through the first. But the second book is WAY more hands on and I think it is a lot better for learning the subject from the ground up.

Other Reviews

• Clearly written, CD not useful
• DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK - All links and programs outdated
• Software key was unavailable
• Lack of examples dooms it.
• Good for Programmers, Bad for Newbies