C++ Computer Book Reviews

With over 250,000 sold, Harvey and Paul Deitel's C++ How to Program is the world's best-selling introduction to C++ programming. Now, this classic has been thoroughly updated! The Deitels' groundbreaking How to Program series offers unparalleled breadth and depth of programming concepts and intermediate-level topics for further study. The books in this series feature hundreds of complete, working programs with thousands of lines of code. Deitels' C++ How to Program is the most comprehensive, practical introduction to C++ ever published-with hundreds of hands-on exercises, roughly 250 complete programs written and documented for easy learning, and exceptional insight into good programming practices, maximizing performance, avoiding errors, debugging, and testing. The updated Fifth Edition now includes a new early classes pedagogy-classes and objects are introduced in Chapter 3 and used throughout the book as appropriate. The new edition uses string and vector classes to make earlier examples more object-oriented. Large chapters are broken down into smaller, more manageable pieces. A new OOD/UML ATM case study replaces the elevator case study of previous editions, and UML in the OOD/UML case study and elsewhere in the book has been upgraded to UML 2. The Fifth Edition features new mini case studies (e.g., GradeBook and Time classes). An employee hierarchy replaces Point/Circle/Cylinder to introduce inheritance and polymorphism. Additional enhancements include tuned treatment of exception handling, new “Using the Debugger” material and a new "Before You Begin" section to help readers get set up properly. Also included are separate chapters on recursion and searching/sorting. The Fifth Edition retains every key concept and technique ANSI C++ developers need to master: control statements, functions, arrays, pointers and strings, classes and data abstraction, operator overloading, inheritance, virtual functions, polymorphism, I/O, templates, exception handling, file processing, data structures, and more. It also includes a detailed introduction to Standard Template Library (STL) containers, container adapters, algorithms, and iterators. The accompanying CD-ROM includes all the source code from the book. A valuable reference for programmers and anyone interested in learning the C++ programming language and object-oriented development in C++.

"C++ Primer is well known as one of the best books for learning C++ and is useful for C++ programmers of all skill levels. This Fourth Edition not only keeps this tradition alive, it actually improves on it."
--Steve Vinoski, Chief Engineer, Product Innovation, IONA Technologies

"The Primer really brings this large and complex language down to size."
--Justin Shaw, Senior Member of Technical Staff, Electronic Programs Division, The Aerospace Corporation

"[It] not only gets novices up and running early, but gets them to do so using good programming practices."
--Nevin ":-)" Liber, Senior Principal Engineer (C++ developer since 1988)

This popular tutorial introduction to standard C++ has been completely updated, reorganized, and rewritten to help programmers learn the language faster and use it in a more modern, effective way.

Just as C++ has evolved since the last edition, so has the authors' approach to teaching it. They now introduce the C++ standard library from the beginning, giving readers the means to write useful programs without first having to master every language detail. Highlighting today's best practices, they show how to write programs that are safe, can be built quickly, and yet offer outstanding performance. Examples that take advantage of the library, and explain the features of C++, also show how to make the best use of the language. As in its previous editions, the book's authoritative discussion of fundamental C++ concepts and techniques makes it a valuable resource even for more experienced programmers.

The book opens with some hints for porting code from C to C++ and then moves on to the proper use of the new and delete operators in C++ for more robust memory management. The text then proceeds to class design, including the proper use of constructors, destructors, and overloaded operator functions for assignment within classes. (These guidelines ensure that you will create custom C++ classes that are fully functional data types, which can be copied and assigned just like built-in C++ classes.)

The author also provides a handful of suggestions for general class design, including strategies for using different types of inheritance and encapsulation. Never doctrinaire and always intelligent, these guidelines can make your C++ classes more robust and easier to maintain. --Richard Dragan
Customer Review: the book does more damage than good
1) the book doesn't know about the basic rule for writing exception safe code, which is: DO only a single allocation inside a constructor-body and to the matching deallocation inside the matching destructor-body. Throw if allocation fails. Then chain such classes into base-class or member-class relationships. You wont have to deal with partially constructed objects, since the compiler is generating all the code for you. 2) there is a glaring error on page 138. The order of construction/destruction is wrong. The correct order is: bm1::constructor() bm2::constructor() Base::Base() dm1::constructor() dm2::constructor() dm3::constructor() Derived::Derived() This mistake alone may have caused plenty of programmers to design their classes in a wrong way.
Customer Review: If you program in C++ this is a must read.
Excellent practices for programming in C++. For all levels of programmers. Not only has it been good for my programming, I require that every programmer that works for me read it as well.

For example:

abstract classes as interfaces class hierarchies for object-oriented programming templates as the basis for type-safe generic software exceptions for regular error handling namespaces for modularity in large-scale software run-time type identification for loosely coupled systems the C subset of C++ for C compatibility and system-level work standard containers and algorithms standard strings, I/O streams, and numerics C compatibility, internationalization, and exception safety

Bjarne Stroustrup makes C++ even more accessible to those new to the language, while adding advanced information and techniques that even expert C++ programmers will find invaluable.
Customer Review: The C++ Programming Language (3rd Edition)
This book is very dense, but has a lot of the granularity necessary to understand the C++ language. The book is written in a way that assumes you have familiarity with C++, so the exercises are challenging to the novice. All in all, this book was a great book to add to my C++ reference library.
Customer Review: There are better C++ books
I agree with the reviewer that this should be the last C++ book you read. Most C++ programmers recommend this book because they just want to brag how knowledgable they are on C++. what I believe is that the most knowledgable person on C++ (Stroustrup) may not be the person who can write technical books best. Of course it can help you better understand C++ by geting some insight of how the compiler works. But he topics are unfocused and the book is very difficult to follow. As a computer science professor and also as a C/C++ user for 10+ years, I would like to mention that the original design of "C++" was flawed in many aspects, and the burdens are still on the shoulders of C++ programmers, now and for many years to come. Although Stroustrup deserves the credit, but he is also responsible for the flaws in the language. Let me mention some sample flaws in the original C++ design: (1) Multiple inheritance. This should never be introduced in C++. It complicates instead of alleviates programming tasks. That's why it is called "Goto in 1990's". If you ever used multiple inheritance or tried to use multiple inheritance, you know what I mean. (2) Structure vs Class. In the Stroustrup's C++, class and structure have no difference except structure defaults to public and class defaults to private. Only because Stroustrup likes the key word "class" very much so he introduced that in C++. However, it is not necessary to introduce a new key word at all. (3) Pass by value should never be allowed for class instances in C++. It makes copy-constructor very complicated and error-prone. If the C++ was designed well at the first place, there would never be a JAVA. JAVA succeeds where C++ fails, although JAVA can never replace C++.

From the author of the indispensable Effective C++, here are 35 new ways to improve your programs and designs. Drawing on years of experience, Meyers explains how to write software that is more effective: more efficient, more robust, more consistent, more portable, and more reusable. In short, how to write C++ software that's just plain better.

More Effective C++ includes:

Proven methods for improving program efficiency, including incisive examinations of the time/space costs of C++ language features

Comprehensive descriptions of advanced techniques used by C++ experts, including placement new, virtual constructors, smart pointers, reference counting, proxy classes, and double-dispatching

Examples of the profound impact of exception handling on the structure and behavior of C++ classes and functions

Practical treatments of new language features, including bool, mutable, explicit, namespaces, member templates, the Standard Template Library, and more. If your compilers don't yet support these features, Meyers shows you how to get the job done without them.

More Effective C++ is filled with pragmatic, down-to-earth advice you'll use every day. Like Effective C++ before it, More Effective C++ is essential reading for anyone working with C++.
Customer Review: good, but not as good as its predecessor
A sequel to Effective C++. Unlike the prequel, which got a third edition in 2005, this has only been updated via the addition of footnotes in a few places (my copy is the 22nd printing from 2006), so some of it feels a bit dated: the items on templates and keywords such as explicit and mutable are somewhat rudimentary. The material is a mixture of items of a similar level to Effective C++, plus some more advanced topics, like how to find out if your object is allocated on the heap or not, how to prevent an object being allocated on the heap, and the mechanics of the object model, about which C++ users (or the authors of C++ books) seem inordinately fond, at least compared to Java users and Smalltalkers. As a result, the more advanced material has slightly narrower appeal than that in Effective C++ - many of the techniques seem more hassle than they're worth. That said, a good deal of the material is still universally important, such as exceptions and the new-style casts, which were new at the time of publication, but which are no longer considered 'advanced'. By now, though, this material is covered elsewhere, e.g. in the likes of C++ Coding Standards and Thinking in C++, or in modified form in the third edition of Effective C++. The last item in the book, on the use of the STL, has been superseded by the author's own book-length excursion, Effective STL. There's also a slight difference in format. The items are in general longer than those in Effective C++. For some topics, it works very well. For example, there's a great treatment of writing a 'smart' pointer and using it for reference counting that takes up 60 pages. That entirely merits the extended format. On the other hand, in some places, the book could have done with editing. Meyers' witticisms are welcome as always, but are sometimes a little too chatty, compared to Effective C++, where the writing is tauter. It's still a pleasure to read, and this has established itself as another C++ must read, but from the perspective of 2007, it's not quite as genre-defining as Effective C++.
Customer Review: More of the same good thing
Like every sequel, in my opinion, this book is less good than the original as if the topics covered in this book are the ones that did not make it into the original book. However that being said, this book is still every good and is just more of the same good stuff that made the original book a bestseller. If you liked Effective C++, there is not risk at all that you will not like this one and will get new knowledge out of it.

*Starts with the most useful concepts rather than the most primitive ones: You can begin writing programs immediately.
*Describes real problems and solutions, not just language features: You see not only what each feature is, but also how to use it.
*Covers the language and standard library together: You can use the library right from the start.

The authors proved this approach in their professional-education course at Stanford University, where students learned how to write substantial programs on their first day in the classroom.
Customer Review: My Two Cents and a Cup of Coffee
Readers of this review should be easily able to discern if their expertise enables them to discard any warnings given here, or if they are in the class of potential users of this book who require the type of warning provided. With that proviso,let us continue. I have perused a few books of C++ instruction (i.e., examined them carefully) and I must say this one is among the most user-friendly of them; it has enabled me to dip into the previous ones I had tried earlier and understand what those other texts were trying to say. Those other texts got me so confused that I sometimes wondered if I could remember my name, for they were not so well organized and seemed to leave out important pedagogical steps. This book has enabled me to avoid most such frustrations, and I now have the firm belief that the primary obstacle to learning this programming language is not an intellectual one--it is nowhere near as tough intellectually as your average advanced mathematics or physics text--the obstacle is overcoming frustration. Even this excellent text will provide the diligent reader with plenty of frustration. For example, at the relatively naive level of this reviewer, the programming example in chapter 4 required me to flip back and forth to find the code for several functions and header files. After finally getting a successful compilation I ran the program and saw a blank board. I had no idea what was going on. I was confused and even managed to convince myself that the code on page 70: while (read(cin, record)), etc., meant that the program was trying to read a text file named "record" which I needed to create in accordance with the statement on page 61, where the authors say: "Such a file might look like Smith 93 91 47 90 92 73 100 87 Carpenter 75 90 87 92 93 60 0 98 " The text leads one to believe that a file is the input to this program. After some floundering around I finally got it through my thick skull (so far as C++ is concerned, anyway) that the program on page 70 required CONSOLE input and I needed to type in the example on page 61, with ENTER at the end of each line and the appropriate end-of-file indication at the end. This made the program run and I saw the correct output. An understanding of basic file input/output would allow a reader to generate such a file, but at my level of knowledge this was not yet possible. Pedagogically it would have been very useful for beginners on my level to have had all the files listed in final form in one place, and a more detailed statement of instructions for what the actual program input is. Unfortunately, my experience is that most C++ books are inappropriate for self-study because of the kinds of inadequacies presented here. Despite these criticisms, in my opinion--by comparison with what I have seen--this book is worth 5 stars. I recently acquired Prata's C++ Primer Plus and it is a thorough but lengthy text, but one which gives instruction on iterators and other useful concepts much later than in the text at hand. Prata, the text under review, and the manual provided with one's C++ software, should give the beginner all that is needed for aquisition of basic C++ knowledge via self-study, in my opinion. With the help of Koenig and Moo I am beginning to see the sheer elegance of the C++ programming language--a new experience for me; I never thought I would ever think of a programming language in that way. There is intellectual beauty here! Therefore I recommend this text heartily. Just remember that your primary obstacle to learning C++ is frustration, not lack of smarts on your part. Also, if I may be so forward as to offer a bit of advice to the novice, learning a programming language is an "experimental science." If you're not sure of something, you have to write small programs and learn what the code is doing via example and make minor variations to solidify your understanding.
Customer Review: Examples in the book provide a good foundation for further learning
I cannot add much to earlier comments praising this book other than to say I really like this book. And, the source file archive for the examples in the book is unusually well organized. [...] The examples are organized by chapters, have makefiles to build and test cases. They have been verified to run with recent C++ compilers. These examples provide an excellent reference in creating your own programs.

Offers complete coverage of the C++ programming language. This title offers provides all the tools necessary for experienced and novice programmers to master C++, including: thorough coverage of the Standard Template Library; complete and fully executable code throughout; sections highlighting programming tips and common pitfalls; and a logical order of coverage of C++ topics in order for readers to better understand the language. This book is appropriate for anyone interested in learning how to programming using the C++ programming language.

If you are new to C++ programming, C++ Primer Plus, Fifth Edition is a friendly and easy-to-use self-study guide. You will cover the latest and most useful language enhancements, the Standard Template Library and ways to streamline object-oriented programming with C++. This guide also illustrates how to handle input and output, make programs perform repetitive tasks, manipulate data, hide information, use functions and build flexible, easily modifiable programs. With the help of this book, you will:

C++ Primer Plus, Fifth Edition makes learning and using important object-oriented programming concepts understandable. Choose this classic to learn the fundamentals and more of C++ programming.

In this book, author Daniel J. Duffy brings C++ to the next level by applying it to the design and implementation of classes, libraries and applications for option and derivative pricing models. He employs modern software engineering techniques to produce industrial-strength applications: Using the Standard Template Library (STL) in finance Creating your own template classes and functions Reusable data structures for vectors, matrices and tensors Classes for numerical analysis (numerical linear algebra ¿) Solving the Black Scholes equations, exact and approximate solutions Implementing the Finite Difference Method in C++ Integration with the ¿Gang of Four¿ Design Patterns Interfacing with Excel (output and Add-Ins) Financial engineering and XML Cash flow and yield curves
Customer Review: Awesome
Extremely accessible and professional, both math and software side are very well done, one of the best intro books about numerical modeling and software design. The finite difference methods in this book are very powerful.
Customer Review: very good book.
implementation and design of classes wise this book is replete with ideas. Since this book dealt with FDM, which are either cubbersome or difficult to program say american options, better is to deal with FE methods.

The effective presentation, along with dozens of helpful code examples, make this book a standout. The text first sets the stage for using C++ with a tour of what object-oriented programming is all about, as well as the software design life cycle. The author then delves into every aspect of C++, from basic keywords and programming principles to more advanced topics, like function and operator overloading, virtual inheritance, exception handling, namespaces, and templates. C++ is a complex language, and the author covers a lot of ground using today's Standard C++, but without getting bogged down in excessive detail.

The emphasis here is on practical programming, so there's basic advice on using header files, preprocessor directives, and namespaces to organize code effectively. Each chapter ends with exercises (usually about two dozen), and the entire text of the book is available on the accompanying CD-ROM. (So is the second volume, which tours Standard C++ classes and other advanced topics.)

Whether you have read the first edition of this book or not, there is much to mine from Thinking in C++. This new version continues to set a high standard as an approachable and thorough tutorial. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to objects, inheritance, composition, polymorphism, exception handling, analysis and design fundamentals, advantages of C++, transitioning from C, compiling and building programs, writing C++ functions, flow control, C++ operators, data types, casting, debugging tips, pointers to functions, designing reusable C++ classes, conditional compilation and header files, access specifiers, constructors and destructors, function overloading and default arguments, using const and static effectively, inlining, namespaces, references, copy constructors, operator overloading, using new and delete for dynamic objects, virtual functions, abstract classes, introduction to templates, and iterators.
Customer Review: Start learning C++ here
If you're looking to learn C++ as your first language, or your first OO language, good luck to you! I tried learning C++ after FORTRAN77, and in retrospect, that was a big mistake. Go and learn another object oriented language first, Python or Java or Ruby (maybe even OO Perl). You probably also want to learn a tiny bit of C, just to get used to pointers and memory management. Done all that? Good. I will be assuming in this review that you already know how to program reasonably and you're not trying to cram C, C++ and OO into your head at once. So, you just want to learn C++. If that's the case, this is the perfect book to start with. The book assumes that you're coming to C++ from C, and builds up from C++ as C with a stricter compiler, then onto C++ as 'object-based' language - objects as structs with functions and encapsulating initialization and memory allocation with constructors and destructors. Finally, object orientation (i.e. inheritance and polymorphism) is introduced. Rounding things off is a brief chapter on templates and iterators, but it's only a sneak preview, really. Only the core of C++ is covered: the standard libraries and other topics (like exceptions) are deferred until volume 2. This leaves volume one as a lean and mean exposition of the core of the language. This is quite an achievement, especially as it manages to be both comprehensive and readable. The somewhat begrudgingly object oriented flavour of C++ is also on display in this book, particularly when compared to Thinking In Java from the same author: there are interesting explanations of what the compiler is getting up to behind the scenes, which should presumably assuage the fears of the more paranoid C programmer. There are copious code examples, although the expected output is not given, which would have been helpful. The introduction to the make utility will also be very welcome to many (including me). This is not quite as good as Thinking in Java, perhaps because of its C-centric opening section, which may require you to familiarise yourself with the differences between C99 and C++ simultaneously (this is particularly apparent in the discussion of the static and const keywords). But it's still a great introduction to C++, and it doesn't waste time with the basics of variables, loops and conditionals. Between this, the second volume, and Koenig and Moo's Accelerated C++, you have all you need to graduate onto the intermediate C++ books, like the Exceptional C++ and Effective C++ series.
Customer Review: very pleasant reading
This is a book that covers c++ almost from scratch. I've had no other programming experience than some php and a tiny bit of C before I read this book. It is a real nice introduction both to the language c++, but most important, it is an introduction to the mindset of object oriented programming, it has some real good chapters in the beginning detailing different processes to begin and plan a project in an object oriented fashion.

Featuring new exercises and updated problem-solving cases studies throughout, Programming and Problem Solving with C++, Fourth Edition is the essential text for your introductory programming courses.
Customer Review: Confusing and difficult to understand for beginners in C++
I am a computer science major and after reading this book I was confused. Programming in C++ for the first time can lead to many errors for beginners and seeking help from this book is not the solution. I had to visit my professor everyday after class just to understand how to program in C++, which made this book useless. I read the book over and over, the more I read it the more confused I got. I have thought about giving up in pursuing my major after reading this book. Try to avoid teachers who uses this book, it is not for beginners.
Customer Review: OK, I guess
This book is OK, but it leaves a lot to be desired. For some reason the author has 2 different chapters on looping; it would make more sense to put them into one chapter ("while" loops in chapter 6 and "do while" and "for" loops in chapter 9...). Most of the examples used are convoluted or even as the author puts it "nonsensical." The author also has a tendency to ramble on. There is lots of additional text printed here. Chapters often span 50 pages, but maybe only 80% is really worth spending a lot of time on. Oh, this book also falls in the "expensive" catagory... $80+ for a paperback???

PROGRAMMING MICROSOFT VISUAL C++, Fifth Edition, delivers authoritative guidance on: Fundamentals-GDI, event handling, dialog boxes, memory management, SDI and MDI, printing, and help Advanced topics-multithreading, DIBs, ODBC, and DLLs COM-creating document objects, ActiveX(r) Controls, and components; automation; and using wizards and compiler extensions that support COM C++ programming for the Internet-Windows(r) Sockets, MFC WinInet, and ISAPI extension programs for Microsoft Internet Information Server

An enclosed CD-ROM contains valuable sample source code and sample applications developed for the book-all of which makes this volume an indispensable tool that every professional will keep close at hand.

Building on the solid achievements of its predecessors, the latest edition provides important new coverage, including: An overview of control development with ATL A full discussion of the latest database programming enhancements A valuable explanation of recent COM improvements A comprehensive examination of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 contols
Customer Review: disappointed!!!
after several detailed reading the book , I am completely disappointed! I began to learn MFC about three years ago, using this book for my first step. after I finished the book, yeah, I can write some codes, but I really didn't know how the codes run under the hood! this book just tells you ,click appwizard, click this or that button, click classwizard, then click classwizard again and again! then you finish your program. the part about COM,OLE is absolutely rubbish! when I first learned COM and OLE using the book, I was completely confused! I have struggled with COM for three months , the only thing I got from Kruglinski is confusion and angry. until I turned to jeff. prosise's great book:"Programming windows with MFC"( 2nd) I found myself in MFC programming.
Customer Review: Good to learn how to code in MFC, but NO Architecture
This is a good book to learn how to code in MFC. The biggest drawback of this book is that it does not mention the MFC application architecture in the begining at all. So the reader is immediately starts coding whithout knowing what the MFc is actually doing for him. I have very strong experience in developing windows applications under the Win32 SDK and I believe that this book should have discussed the MFC message maping and application architecture before writing any code (at least). Overall, i think the book is okay. Personnely, I like "Professional MFC With Visual C++ 6 by Mike Blaszczak" better.

  C++ fundamentals and object-oriented thinking in QF Advanced object-oriented features such as inheritance and polymorphism Template programming and the Standard Template Library (STL) An introduction to GOF design patterns and their applications in QF Applications

The kinds of applications include binomial and trinomial methods, Monte Carlo simulation, advanced trees, partial differential equations and finite difference methods.

This book contains a CD with all source code and many useful C++ classes that you can use in your own applications. Examples, test cases and applications are directly relevant to QF.

  This book is the perfect companion to Daniel J. Duffy’s book Financial Instrument Pricing using C++ (Wiley 2004, 0470855096)
Customer Review: The first step to learn C++ in quantitative finance
Well, this book has listed out the essential elements for option pricing using C++. You are assumed to have a basic background of C++ programming up to OOP and simple STL. All materials covered in part I and II are well written for sharpening your knowledge in STL, inheritance, polymorphism and data structures which are useful for filling the gap between C++ language and application in computational finance. In part III, a core section of this book, it lists out the most popular techniques for pricing derivatives products such as tree method, Finite difference scheme and Monte Carlo method. This book is highly recommended for the first glance in computational finance. With the full source code in the attached CD, you can self-study easily. In addition, another Duffy's book - Financial Instrument Pricing Using C++ and Justin 's book - Modeling Derivatives in C++ are good references for intermediate level learning.
Customer Review: A great introduction
This book is a great introduction to C++ for people working with or studying Quantitative Finance. I strongly recommend this book. The author is taking you from novice to a good level of understanding of C++ in a few hundred pages. I especially like the introduction to STL and the chapter on Design Patterns and how to apply them. In short a very good book.

Learn C++, Patterns, and Qt 4 Cross-Platform Development

Master C++ and design patterns together, using the world's leading open source framework for cross-platform development: Qt 4.

An Introduction to Design Patterns in C++ with Qt 4 is a complete tutorial and reference that assumes no previous knowledge of C, C++, objects, or patterns. You'll walk through every core concept, one step at a time, learning through an extensive collection of Qt 4.1-tested examples and exercises.

By the time you're done, you'll be creating multithreaded GUI applications that access databases and manipulate XML files--applications that run on platforms including Windows, Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X. Best of all, you'll be writing code that's efficient, reusable, and elegant.