C++ from the Ground Up

The book says specifically that it is written for beginner to intermediate level. This book meets that goal very well. I have an BS in computer science and I have worked in industry as a developer for over 6 years, several of these using C++. I brought this book, because I learned C++ by using it. Therefore, I only used a small subset of C++'s capabilities in my job, and I really wanted to know the language well. There are several things that need to be taken into account when trying to learn C++. First, the authors of the actual C++ language estimate that it will take 6 months - 1 1/2 years to truly learn C++. Second, all college level computer science students take a class in algorithms, datastructure, object oriented programming, file systems, and software engineering. Chapters 1 - 9 cover the material that is usually taught in a standard "algorthims" class. Chapters 10 - 15 would cover the material that would be expected in a hands on object oriented programming class. Chapters 16 - 22 would cover the material in an advanced C++ class. Even after you finish this book, your education is not complete. This book only covers 1/3 of what is actually in the C++ language standards. "The C++ Standard Library" will teach you about STL: Standard Template Library -- material taught in a standard data structures class, and is another 1/3 of the language standards. Then you will need "Standard C++ IOStreams and Locales". This will cover the last 1/3 of the C++ langauge standards, file systems. Finally, you will need a book about interfacing with databases, so you can save the data, and GUI, so you can interface with the user.I don't mean to discourage anyone from learning C++. I just wanted to provide realistic expectations. Starting at Chapter 6, I have been going through this book slowly, and I have been learning a lot about the details of C++. The book will not teach a person how to write algorithms or how to write object oriented code. It will just teach you how to do it in C++. Therefore, if you don't know the theory of these ideas, you will need a book to explain the theory.

I found this an excellent beginner-level intro to C++, and yet still a fairly complete tour of the language. Only the Standard Template Library wasn't covered in depth, but even then, the most commonly-used STL classes were clearly explained. It's easy and quick reading; I read it cover to cover in about a week. I've read several reviews of books in the "from the ground up" series that complained that they were too advanced; if so, this book is an exception. I had only a rudimentary knowledge of C++ when I picked it up, but I found it very easy to follow. I recommed it highly.

I have read more than 10 books on C++ and found this book very easy to understand, particularly for Beginners and Intermediate C++ programmers. This book primarily writes from the compilers point of view. It doesn't just tell you how to write a C++ code but also tells you how a compiler treats your written code & talks extensively about how the compiler actually implements the user written code and this is what makes a programmer make very few mistakes while writing the code. Author has written this book keeping in view the beginners & intermediate C++ programmers and he has done an excellent work by making the complex C++ look very easy.

Great explanation and exemplification of pointers. I started with Horton's Beginning Visual C++, and got bogged down with the pointer stuff. Then I began reading Schildt, and he made it all seem so easy and clear that I just kept reading. I have only some minor gripes. 1) The example programs are often repeated with only minor modifications, which are not highlighted --- they're buried in the code; 2) I haven't checked the errata sheet, but I found it challenging and fun to debug some of Schildt's code (check out page 588 for a real blooper!); 3) The coverage of STL was (necessarily, I suppose) cursory and vague; 4) Schildt never gives a clear explanation of things like "template >class list" (p 583) --- these "syntax models" occur late in the book, however, and the examples that follow usually make things pretty clear; and 5) After finishing this book I can supposedly "call [myself] a C++ programmer"(page 637). I can also call myself a wombat --- it ain't necessarily true, though! It was a good read, and I now feel better able to attack Horton.