Rating: 
Summary: T R A S H !!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Look elsewhere. And I agree with with ALL the unkindly reviews. If you are serious learning C ++ spend a little bit more time surfing the net for a better book ...unless you won't feel any resentment of being ripped off.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Introduction to C++ I've Ever Read
Review: I can't believe the trashing this book has received! For someone with an understanding of the basics of C, I can think of no better introduction to C++. Davis' witty and engaging style makes potentially tricky concepts like Polymorphism easier to understand than any other book I have read on the subject!The book almost reads like a novel, you laugh BUT YOU ALSO LEARN!! After reading this book and the companion More C++ for Dummies, I am well on the way to understanding: Inheritance, Polymorphism, IO Streams, Templates, Error Handling etc... I wish I could write this in luminous letters five feet high.... B U Y T H I S B O O K !!!
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good, but still lacking.
Review: I give this book 4 stars and not 3 because of the purpose I have decided the Dummies series fulfills. A for Dummies book is supposed to be a good, cheap book to read to get you ready for a more expensive book. This book fulfills that purpose. If you are looking to be a very strong C++ programmer, look elsewhere, but if you are buying more than one book this is an excellent first step. Errors are abundant in the book (by the end of chapter 3 I counted at least 15), but the code is mostly correct. It's the only programming book I ever read that didn't explain arrays thoroughly with examples like train cars, and explanations for arrays and pointers are really fuzzy. If you want to jump into windows programming, pass it up. If you want an easy introduction to the very basics of C++ and OOP, choose this.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect intro to those reluctant to jump into OOP
Review: I agree that the bad press is unwarranted. I am not a fan of computer "Dummies" books, but this and Perl for Dummies are both gems. The book warns, if you don't know C, go back and learn it before proceeding. I felt this book was the perfect vehicle to both understanding the improvements of C++ over C and as an intro to OOP. Many of us hear about OOP and pretend to understand the "high level" of what it does without understanding the core. Davis does a great job of explaining abstraction, polymorphism and inheritance in a way that's applicable not only to the real world but to the programming world. OOP is such a dramatic departure from structured programming, and it requires the fun and entertaining explanation he provides (object oriented nachos). I have had many a propeller-head try to explain it to me with no success. I am not an expert, but I now can honestly say I understand OOP and how to apply it, thanks to this book.
Rating:
Summary: 4th edition? I can't even imagine the first 3!
Review: This book was not edited! Or at the very least the editor was extremely pressed for time (may he had 2-3 days). Numerous error from mis-spellings to code that doesn't match the description. Examples that change key point right in the middle of discussing it. Pictures that aren't what the description says it is ( if you don't believe me then compare figures 11-7 and 11-8. Notice how they're describing different things but the pictures are IDENTICAL!!) I sent an email to the author outlining some of the mistakes I found. I went through the 4th chapter and easily came up with 15 errors. Any new user of C++ will either be confused or extremely mis-informed. A byte is actually 8 bits and not 4 as the book claims.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Quite For Dummies
Review: I don't like to bag other people's work (especially when they are more experienced than myself), however I do feel justified to warn anyone who is considering buying this book to be careful. This book is not (although the introduction says otherwise) for people with no programming knowledge. I had programmed in Visual Basic for around six months before I picked up this book and I had some trouble understanding the author's explanations. I was also shocked to discover several major mistakes in the text. At one point the author was writing about a function that did not exist in the code he was refering to. A true beginner would not pick up on such mistakes. To make things more frustrating, the author had an anoying habbit of not explaing things or explaining them later on (like three chapters after they had been introduced). On the other hand, the author did give information about performing different types of mathematical opperations (binary and bitwise, etc) which I found very useful. Just remember that this book is not for beginners.
Rating:
Summary: C for dummies to C++ for dummies - wha ?
Review: Did I wrong copy or something - that book was GHASTLY I couldn't understnad a thing. He lost me after the 2nd chapter and I have finished reading C for dummmies vol. 1 and 2. He says if you don't know C go and pick up C for dummies... I READ BOTH! I still can't quite grasp it. When I'm a better programmer and I understand C++ more - maybe (just maybe) it might be a good reference book - so it has its place in the bookshelf, but its only an inch away from the fireplace...
Rating:
Summary: I loved it!
Review: C++ for Dummies is a great book! I find the topic very frustrating. About the time my blood pressue goes up, Davis writes something like Chapter 7, Abstraction and Microwave Ovens. This makes me laugh, and then I am able to relax and continue the learning process. I consider Davis a blessing.
Rating:
Summary: Am I the only one that sees numerous typos?
Review: I like the first part of the book except for the typos in the code and the explainations. Typos are extremely frustrating to someone trying to learn the material. The later part of the book starts skimping on the explainations. In the later part the typos will have you tearing your hair out trying to follow the examples.
Rating:
Summary: Not for Dummies. And not for anyone maybe.
Review: This book is disappointing and I can't believe how high it was rated by some people here. I think that any beginner would have much problems in understanding this book. Fortunately I'm a little bit experienced with Visual Basic, so I could follow the book, but still could see that it is not well designed. It seems that no Dummy had "beta tested" this book. What is bad about it? Too much information is packed in too few pages. This is definately not good for any beginner. Either the book should be larger or some topics should be omitted. Besides the book pretends to always tell not only the how, but also the why. Unfortunately the why is only very seldomly explained! The book is sometimes funny, but half of the examples are misleading or unnecessary. The author has no feeling of what would be hard for the reader to remember and thus to repeat certain things shortly a few chapters later. The design of the book seems too "object oriented" for a beginner. I mean that it could serve as well as a reference work. And this is not a good book design for beginners. Further important words are not explicitly defined. And there are too many typos in that book. I expected to get a good book since it is the 4th edition and was revised, but it's unbelievable that it is so bad then. Maybe it is better to buy "The C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Stroustrup.
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