Learn to Program with C

Learn to Program with C++

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Number Of Pages: 624
Publication Date: 2002-10-28
Sales Rank: 799651
ISBN / ASIN: 0072225351
EAN: 9780072225358
Binding: Paperback
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Studio: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Average Rating: 4

More than 100,000 programmers owe their careers to Professor John Smiley. In this unique guide, the guru himself will teach you, in a classroom setting, how to program with C++. Learn from more than 100 questions and answers as well as real-world programming projects.

Review:

Didn't read the book, but don't need to

Professor Smiley writes books (and teaches courses) which are designed to bridge the gap between the layperson and the professional (degreed) programmer. I orginally read (and used) his LTP for Visual Basic, and was able to parlay the knowledge he provided into a management position at a top F500 company.

Now, I had a lot of previous knowledge of databases and excel to go along with what the course provided, but the book(s) provide a great resource for any level of anyone desiring technical programming knowledge, I'm so impressed with the way Prof Smiley personalizes what can be a very difficult and abstract subject that I plan on taking more in-depth classes from him.

Best Regards,

Jim

Review:

A mediocre book at best.

I can't compare Learn To Program with C++ to any other C++ books, because this is the only one I have read so far. All in all, unfortunately, the book has turned out to be a failure. I simply didn't get out of the book what I wanted: an elementary introduction to the language.

At times, it seemed the author was using phrases that he had never used before, as if he had explained them before at some point. Bizarre, yes. He made the assumption that some of his terminology was either very simple to pick up on, or was already covered. It wasn't simple or already covered.

Also, perhaps equally bothersome, the author talks too much about the students in his fictitous class. Make note that there actually no classroom with the students he is always talking about. What is probably most bothersome is that he often repeats the same things over such as "I waited to see if anyone else had a question." He is the one writing the book, of course he knows if one of his characters is going to ask a question or not! Remarkable. The interaction between him and his students may upset some people just because there are no actual students.

As far as the book being easy to read, well, the introduction is, but you may get lost after that. I did. It is possible that C++ is to blame, or may be it is how the author presents the language.

Review:

A good base for C++, but not a lot of usefull content.

This book is simply put, a good base for learning C++, however, you won't walk away from it knowing enough info to start programming.

First, what is good about the book. The book is truly for beginners, and John Smiley has a way with explaining concepts. The book gives a great base for C++ and object oriented programming. The classroom format works well, and all in all it's a great book.

Now for the bad. The thing that was a major dissapointment is that after reading the book, you really don't have enough knowledge to build your own programs. I mean I wasn't expecting to be programming Xbox games, however, I can do hardly anything. This is due to the fact that rather than teaching new coding techniques (building a graphical user interface would of been great), he simply shows better ways of using the same code. This is why I say it is a great base, it shows you a lot of the important concepts in C++, however, it fails to deliver a lot of usefull code.

Another problem is that it tends to go too deep into explanations sometimes. It's great that he explains things, but sometimes he just goes too far. Another problem I had was the choice of topics, like he went into some things that seemed like advaced topics(inheritence for one), and while they may be usefull in the long run, they seem like something a "beginner" would have no need for. Some info on building GUI's would have been a nice replacement, something people will use right away, unlike inheritence which would take time to find uses for. Another thing I didn't like was the huge intro to the Systems Development Life Cycle. It is good to know, but this is a beginner's book, no one will read this book and then do projects that would have any use for the Life Cycle. It seems that the author can't decide if he really wants this to be a beginners book. At times it seems as though this is an introduction to object oriented programming (using C++ as a model language), as opposed to a book on C++

So, what I recommend is to buy this book, as you will learn lots about object oriented programming and the basics of C++, but then immediately buy a more technical book with lots of content, take a course, etc. Just don't read this book and expect to be able to write (even simple) C++ programs, and if you do, they will just be little Command Prompt Programs. (not a whole lot you can do in it)

Now that I want to learn Java, I've decided not to get John Smiley's JAVA book. I'm getting Sam's Java 2 book. It's simply that it looks like Sam's has way more content, and since C++ is similar to Java, I know all the basics of object oriented programming from this book, as well as the main coding techniques, therefor I don't need a book with John Smiley's great explanations and would rather go for a book with lots of content.

Review:

I think it's a great book

Let me begin by saying that I'm the author, so let's get that out of the way.

I'm posting here to point out that the book has a tremendous amount of support materials that have never been advertised. Each of my books has a support page containing a current list of errata, downloadable files (completed exercises from the book), extra links to extra materials I have written and my email address in the event you have problems. I also run a series of online classes so that if you would like to learn with me in a more structured setting, you can do that also. You can access those materials via this link

http://www.johnsmiley.com/books.htm

I should also say that this book isn't for everyone---and you can read through some of the other reviews posted here to see why and why not.

I wrote this book for beginner level programmers, and the book is written in a unique style.

You (and I) can thank the now defunct Wrox Publishing house for the style of the book that some people absolutely love and others (primarily hotshot programmers with lots of experience) hate. The book is written as if you are participating in an actual classroom---many people, particularly those learning on their own or in an Independent study setting find comforting.

My thanks to the many people who have written to me to tell me how much they've enjoyed my books and how they have helped them achieve their goals of learning to program.John Smiley.password: gigapedia.org

http://mihd.net/s8zoy4

http://rapidshare.com/files/58137047/learn_to_program_with_c___2003.pdf

http://rapidshare.com/files/58240723/t03700.rar.html