Introduction to C++ Programming: A Modular Approach

Rating:
Summary: A very clearly written book for beginners
Review: As a beginner to programming, I thought this book was very well presented, easily understood and very much an encouragement to continue on with programming.

Rating:
Summary: Introduction to C++ Programming : A Cobol/Fortran Approach?
Review: I obtained this text as a review copy for possible use in my introductory C++ programming course. My first reaction was to laugh at the flow charts; something I havn't seen outside of a COBOL or FORTRAN book. After deciding to give the book a good look over I was quite unimpressed. I often place unsuitable review copies outside of my office for students to take but this one is only fit for the circular file floder beside the desk.

The book avoids local variables claiming that all good corporate programs use global variables only. The text does not cover any C++ other than for simple input and output. There is no mention of the word class (we cover this in the first week). Finally, there is no parameter passing for function calls so there is no mention of call-by-value or call-by-reference parameters.

This book should not be used by anyone who is interested in learning programming. A person who learns to program from this book would be in no shape to learn anything about data structures.

Rating:
Summary: An approach to be avoided !
Review: I was given this book as text for a C programming course I taught. I do not recommend it for a class text or self-study.

This book has many failings. First of all it does not teach ANSI C. Peculiarites of an early Borland C compiler are taught as part of the language. For example "stdprn" is presented along with "stdin" and "stdout" as intrinsic file pointers. fclose() is shown to have a variable argument list.

However it is the author's use of very poor C programming style that makes this book a dangerous choice for someone trying to learn the language. He does not use argumets to pass information between functions. Instead he relies on global variables. For the small example programs shown in the text this is reasonably managable. In real world programming, one will soon be lost in unpredictable side effects of such a style. At one point he even sets multi-dimensional array indices (which are global) in one function to be used in another.

One of the reason for this poor style is that the author does not present pointers as such, but buries the concept into specific cases (e.g., file pointers). No text porporting to teach the language can fail to address pointers. In addition, he does not address structures until the second to the last chapter. Thus, an obvious vehicle for passing complex information between functions (preferably via pointers) is unavailble throughout most of the presentation.

Finally, the example programs and exercises are unrealistic. They by and large are concerned with processing flat table information -- reading, writing reports, modifing the data. In the real world, such tasks would be done easier and better using tools like Excel and Access. The exercises after each chapter are variations on the same half a dozen problems (all very similar in nature). Yet he does not show how the new concepts presented in the current chapter can solve the problems easier or more elegantly or extend the function of the program.

I spent the semester course teaching _against_ this book. I regard it one to be avoided.

Rating:
Summary: Is there a lower rating than one star?
Review: I was required to puchase this waste of paper for a "intro to C" programming class I am taking. It's obvious that the publishers have exclusive rights to cetain education systems to make such a horrible book (costing over $100) the text of choice for learning C. If you want to learn C, buying "Breakfast at Tiffany's" would teach you more than this book!

Rating:
Summary: Introduction to C Programming: Just Barely!
Review: This book is improperly titled. It should be titled "Modular Programming Using C." The emphasis is on modular programming, not the C programming language. Only enough C is introduced to support the modular approach. All examples look like COBOL programs translated into C. I know of no C programmers who write code this way. This book is inadequate in its treatment of the preprocessor, standard input and output. Writing functions with arguments and return values is completely ignored. In my opinion this book never should have been written. If you want to learn C DON'T GET THIS BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this book. If you did, as for your money back!
Review: This book was required for a class I am taking. After trying to use it for two weeks of an accelerated course, I went out and purchased the C How to Program book by Deitel and Deitel on the recommendation of another C professor. This book is a dangerous waste of time and teaches programming habits that fly in the face of programming standards - the use of global variables over local is a prime example. Additionally, there are no reference tables, no glossary, and the index is useless. The poor quality of the index makes this book useless as a reference book and difficult to use for study/review. This book is inappropriately priced, being an inferior work and yet priced higher than other books which have been recommended to me (such as the Deitel & Deitel work). Unfortunately, our instructor was not allowed to select the text for our class. The publisher should pull this book from circulation and offer apologies and refunds to those who purchased it. It is a smirch on their reputation.

Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this book. If you did, as for your money back!
Review: This book was required for a class I am taking. After trying to use it for two weeks of an accelerated course, I went out and purchased the C How to Program book by Deitel and Deitel on the recommendation of another C professor. This book is a dangerous waste of time and teaches programming habits that fly in the face of programming standards - the use of global variables over local is a prime example. Additionally, there are no reference tables, no glossary, and the index is useless. The poor quality of the index makes this book useless as a reference book and difficult to use for study/review. This book is inappropriately priced, being an inferior work and yet priced higher than other books which have been recommended to me (such as the Deitel & Deitel work). Unfortunately, our instructor was not allowed to select the text for our class. The publisher should pull this book from circulation and offer apologies and refunds to those who purchased it. It is a smirch on their reputation.