Absolute C++

If you're not a seazoned programmer, and you need to learn C++, I could not recommend a better book. I've read my fair share of programming texts and most of them make fine references but do a sub par job of teaching you the language. Savitch has written a teaching text that will more than make up for your less than inspiring professor. The text is almost fun to read (lets face it, it's C++; only so much joy can be found here) and approaches each part of the language from multiple angles, insuring that you'll learn that part one way or another. There are gobs of examples, fine points, warnings, and projects. If you can't learn C++ with this text, you probably can't learn C++.

This book is geared towards those students who have had some programming experience; this is not for absolute beginners and the author makes that perfectly clear in its preface. It is a textbook and not a reference (although it is surprisingly thorough) and those searching for obscure bits of technical information should look elsewhere. Savitch's explanations are very easy to understand and well-considered -- he writes in a style that is neither overly technical nor overly conversational (two aspects of CS books that I particularly despise). This book is paced perfectly and the progression of topics is natural and logical. Throughout each chapter there are easy-to-read sample programs, self-test exercises, tips, and warnings and, best of all, there are excellent programming assignments at the end of each chapter that test your newly-acquired knowledge. As is the case for any text of this nature, it doesn't address advanced technical topics but does reach intermediate structures such as binary trees (although only in an introductory fashion). If you are new to C++ and have some experience with, say, Java, then this book is for you. If you are still at an elementary level and are using an elementary (high-level) language such as JavaScript, you might try a book that begins without the assumption of knowledge this one does. Highly recommended.

Walter Savitch, the author of the Absolute C++, first edition, has done an amazing job putting together a book that can be used as a teaching aid for second year or first year advanced Computer Science students. Unlike professional books, the author has geared this book towards students with little programming experience in the real-world at least, and has created problems that can aid the student in learning the material more deeply and more concretely. If I were an instructor, this would the book that I would use, and if I had to take C++ all over again, this is the book I would love to learn from.Color aids and categorized notes, such as "Pitfall" and "Tip", aid the student along the way with little details that go a long way when you are programming. "Example" and "Self-test exercises" further the learning process after each section by testing the student's knowledge of the topic. At the end of each chapter answers are given to the "self-test exercises" and various programming projects are given that mimic the topic covered and at the same time expect the student to think outside of the box to solve the problems. Some of the programming projects given are hard enough that they can used - alone or collectively with other problems in other chapters - as semester long projects or group projects. Examples are depicted right on spot rather than line-by-line after the example. Colored notes, arrows to the section of code being explained and highlighting of the important code sections are used to depict each and every example. The examples are well-documented and various "screen shots" are used to display what the output would look like. Pictures are inserted when needed, explaining how pointers and references work for example, and they are worth a thousand words. The pictures are easily concise and clear, simple and yet to the point. Being a text book on C++, one would wonder about the authors approach to the C++ language. It would help if the readers on this book have some background on programming, and especially in C++. The author spends one chapter on the basics of the language, but that's not enough for readers with no programming background. A good deal is then devoted to various aspects of programming such as arrays, functions and structures first before the author starts on the in-depth coverage of C++ itself. The Standard Template Library (STL) is used throughout the book to demonstrate and teach C++, starting with Vectors. Each of the classes of the STL are covered in detail throughout the book, but the authors breaks each of the major classes (lists, string, vector, etc...) and places them to teach a specific topic to the students. The author touches on STL first before going in to operator overloading, for example. This way, the students can learn the [semi] advanced features of the language in a context in which it can later be used - more concrete and more applied approach rather than an abstract overview of the feat

I have always hated and feared C++. But after I got this book I began to like programming with it. It is good for - beginners - intermediate levels- advanced levels. Advanced students and professional programmers can use it as a reference also. It is a great book for reference. If you want to learn C++ then just get it. It is worth every penny spent on it.

Although I don't believe in the perfect C++ textbook that teaches everything and satisfy the absolute novices as well as the seasoned experts, 'Absolute C++' by Walter Savitch is the very first C++ textbook (the book that teaches you the syntax of C++ language) that really satisfies me with the completeness of its coverage of the C++ language without verbosity of the other countless textbooks available in the market. Its coverage of C++ topics is concise but thorough. Its organization is neat and its presentation is very pleasant to the eyes. Each topic is presented in the sensible order which facilitates the readers to learn C++ step by step without getting lost or tangled up with the bits of coverage all over the textbook. Each chapter contains the handful of review exercises with the complete answers. This textbook is lean and nutritious (100% fat-free). Anyone who really hates textbooks in the remote vicinity of 'C++ How to Program' by Deitel and Deitel should take a look at this. Some helpful tips for those who just started learning C++. 1) Keep in mind that C++ is a very hard and tough programming language to master. C++ is arguably the most complicated programming language available today. It is by no mean THE perfect programming language, and it requires the tremendous amount of responsibilities from the programmer. However, no other language is as powerful, versatile, and flexible as C++. It gives the programmers the assembly-language-like freedom with the data types and the memory management. It offers the programmers the characteristics of both the high-level language and low-level language. It also provides the programmers both the efficient structure-oriented features and the strong object-oriented features at the same time. 2) C++ is not C, although C++ is derived from C language. Although C++ is derived from C and inherited many features from C, C++ is NOT C. They are totally two different and separate languages just as Java is not C++. C is a structure-oriented language while C++ is object-oriented language. C++ has many new features that C can't even begin to dream about. Give C++ all due respect. 3) The perfect C++ textbook does not exist, so stop trying to find one. Just about everyone who ever tried to learn C++ have attempted one way or another to find or to write that elusive perfect textbook that teaches you everything and satisfy the absolute beginners as well as the seasoned experts. The fact of the matter is there isn't one. Learning C++ can be a very long and frustrating process given the complexity of the language. It will take your full attention, devotion, and time to master C++ no matter which textbook you choose to use. Many books claim to be the one. Many programmers claim that the book they recommend is the one. But the experienced programmers will find the beginners' textbooks such as 'Starting out with C++' by Tony Gaddis insulting and waste of time while the novice programmer will find advanced textbook