C++: The Complete Reference Review

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(More customer reviews)A little background: I've been programming professionally for 3 years now using VB, SQL, HTML, JavaScript, XML and occasional C. I would consider myself at intermediate/journyman level, striving to be Guru level (I'm perhaps there in VB, but not the other languages). Now my job is calling for more usage of C/C++ and thus I am striving to get at more than just a basic level with these languages. This background information is important because different books are appropriate for different experience/proficiency levels and thus someone can gage my review to their needs or to their experience level.
When I was converting to being a programmer, one of my courses was on C. The text was "A Book On C". This was probably the worst programming book I've ever used - it was poorly indexed, gave [poor] examples (for the beginner) and was difficult to read. I now own a copy of K & R's "The C Programming Language", which is much better and regarded by many to be the best C book of all. I like it, but it's not the best learning book, being terse and sometimes a bit confusing in it's explainations. K&R is an authoritative refernece. I've also thumbed through extensively Stroustrups' "The C++ Programming Language" at the bookstore. Again, this is a definetive reference, but not a good learning book. These books are written by and meant for experienced and/or advanced C/C++ programmers.
On the flip side of the coin are the "...For Dummies", "The Complete Idiots guide to..." and "Teach Yourself..." series books, which I've thumbed through the cooresponding C books at the bookstore. These books are good primers and are easy to understand. However, they are incomplete in their coverage of their subject and are of spotty quality.
So where's the happy medium? The answer is simple: "C++: The Complete Reference". This book has extremely thorough coverage of the subject (not as thorough as Stroustrups' book, but thorough nonetheless) and is extremely easy to understand. I love the presentation - it's simple, practical, to the point and quite enjoyable. When I read about a subject, say a function pointer or inheritance, and compile it's example, I have fun doing it and I feel I come away with a solid understanding without risidual confusion (risidual confusion sometimes occurs with K&R or Stroustrup). Also, when I want to look up something that I need to use, say a library function, I can find it immediately in the index, turn to the various pages that are referenced, and be able to use the function immediately and effectively.
I love the Osborne "Complete Reference" format for it's oganizational and presentation styles and I love Herb Schildts writing. He's a C/C++ guru (having been on the ANSI/ISO C++ standardization committee) and posesses excellent communications and teaching skills. He really understands the perspective of someone trying to learn C++ or improve on their C++ skills. There's a very good reason why he's the worlds highest selling C++ author.
This book is great for beginning and intermediate C++ programmers (and even good for C++ gurus as an easy and quick reference). It wouldn't be good for someone brand new to programming (these people should stick with beginning programming books).
Also consider what a tremendous value this book is. ... And the similarily priced "...For Dummies" and "Teach Yourself..." books don't contain nearly as much as this book. With this book you get an incredible amount of bang for your buck.
I can't rave enough about this book. It's thorough, well organized, easy to understand, enjoyable to read, extremely effective, and an absolute bargain. It's a must have for all levels of C++ programmers.

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Providing a comprehensive reference to programming language, C++, this text includes: coverage of the updated ANSI C++ standard; a description of the current root of C++; details of C++'s OOP components and classes; and tips on effective C++ software application development.

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C How to Program (3rd Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)Anyone in his first year of engineering/Computer science is haunted by the nightmare of writing programs.The experience is common....the first time I saw a program(which seemed as cryptic as some enigmatic script from paleolithic era)....I said to myself...."GOD--WHY ME??".Our text "C Program design for engineers " didn't help much.
Then I lay my hands on this wonderful wonderful book.The best thing about this book is that it does not assume any prior programming experience on the reader's part.Another feature that I found extremely helpful is the use of LIVE CODE approach...which technically shows you the output for every program.The treatment is quite exhaustive and subsequent chapters are based on concepts covered in previous chapters.Once you are through with C....the book gradually introduces object oriented programming with C++ and then Java.The point is, even though languages like c++ and Java have more functionality than C...you need to learn C?WHY?....well if not for anything else, then for appreciating the features of an Object oriented language like Java.Trust me...I learnt Java first.....and it always lingered in my mind, WHY an object oriented language?After learning C...I know the answer.
One piece of advice, if you are learning programming outside your school curricula or on your own......you are better off with a book like Ivor Horton's Begining C.
By the way, just get one Deitel Book, don't buy the same author's Java-how to program, if you already own a copy of C-how to program.....because they use the same programs in all their books just changing the syntax.....more than half of these books is the same....so use that money to get a different author's perspective.:)

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For CS1 and other courses covering programming in C. Also appropriate as a supplement for upper-level courses where the instructor uses a book as a reference to the C language.This comprehensive text is aimed at readers with little or no programming experience. Highly practical in approach, it introduces fundamental notions of structured programming and software engineering and gets up to speed quickly. The book covers not only the full C language, but includes a review of library functions and a solid introduction to C++, Java, and object-oriented programming.

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A Book on C: Programming in C (4th Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the best book I have ever read on C, one of the best textbooks I have ever read, and one of the best books (no exceptions) I have ever read.
I learned C from this book (second edition) in the author's (AK's) computational math class at UC Santa Cruz. I have since looked at many other C books (including K&R, "C By Example", "C for Programmers", and others) and this is hands-down the best. It provides a thorough, accessible and ANSI-compliant introduction to the language, uses many useful (nontrivial) examples from general computer science and computational math (sorting algorithms, matrix math), and I found it fun to read! In particular, I think it provides the most intuitive and useful introduction to pointers and pointer arithmatic anywere. The examples are well integrated into the flow of presentation, and it is well indexed (it is an excellent reference book). One of the reasons I like it so much as an example of good writing is that it serves double duty as a teaching tool and a reference work, and does both successfully.
This is the one!

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Written by best-selling authors Al Kelley and Ira Pohl, A Book on C, Fourth Edition is a comprehensive tutorial and reference to C based on the ANSI C standard. The C language is demonstrated with numerous examples and extensive exercises that guide readers through each concept. Step-by-step "dissections" of program code reveal the underlying logic of the programs and include in-depth implementation details. New features in this edition include: a chapter on moving from C to Java; more programming examples; new and improved dissections; more thorough coverage of multifile programming, pointers, and recursion; and new and updated exercises; and an expanded appendix of standard library functions. In addition, there is more emphasis on Abstract Data Types, which provides the reader with a foundation for working with objects and facilitates programming in the problem domain.

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C Programming Language (2nd Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book (widely known as K&R, after the authors' initials) has for over twenty years been the best way to learn C. When I got this book in 1980, I had access to a Unix system and worked through much of the tutorial material in it. On the way I learnt a great deal, not just about C, but about good programming style, code reuse, the value of clear comments--in short, I was introduced to the skill set of an experienced computer professional.
The book was a trendsetter in several ways. For example, the very first exercise given is to print "hello, world"; this is now seen as the first exercise in innumerable other, more recent books, many of which may not realize that they are borrowing from K&R. The rest of chapter 1 (there's a chapter 0, an introduction; another geek-cool change which has been widely copied) is a tutorial that takes you through assignment statements, data types, if/else, for, while, printf, function definitions, arrays, and variable scoping, in less than 30 pages. If you work your way through the embedded exercises you'll have written utilities to strip tabs, reverse input by lines, strip trailing whitespace from input, and several others. This is much more challenging than most tutorials, but the effect on the student is that you feel you are being treated as an equal. The book doesn't talk down to you; it gives you accurate and concise answers. It's written for programmers, in other words.
The next few chapters go back over the elements of C in more detail, and should also be treated as a tutorial. Going through this material religiously will be far more valuable than any college class could possibly be.
There is a reference section at the back, which is good to have. But the real value of this book is in the tutorial approach: it is a rare pleasure in the computing field to find a book that is simultaneously clear, stimulating and informative.

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The authors present the complete guide to ANSI standard C language programming. Written by the developers of C, this new version helps readers keep up with the finalized ANSI standard for C while showing how to take advantage of C's rich set of operators, economy of expression, improved control flow, and data structures. The 2/E has been completely rewritten with additional examples and problem sets to clarify the implementation of difficult language constructs. For years, C programmers have let K&R guide them to building well-structured and efficient programs. Now this same help is available to those working with ANSI compilers. Includes detailed coverage of the C language plus the official C language reference manual for at-a-glance help with syntax notation, declarations, ANSI changes, scope rules, and the list goes on and on.

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