Rating: 
Summary: Not easy to use
Review: A difficult book to use. When talking about the primative type (ie INT) it discusses complex numbers? The index does not have the C terminology so that you can look up the C functions (ie malloc) to see how it is done in C++.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another bad computer book
Review: As I said in another review, the computer industry is notable for the huge quantity of really bad books it engenders. This is one of those books. Before saying why it is a bad book, I will present the table of contents:Preface 1. An Overview of C++ and Object-Oriented Programming 2. Native Types and Statements 3. Functions, Pointers, and Arrays 4. Classes 5. Constructors and Destructors 6. Operator Overloading and Conversion 7. Templates, Generic Programming, and STL 8. Inheritance 9. Exceptions 10. OOP Using C++ Appendices A. ASCII Character Codes B. Operator Precedence and Associativity C. Language Guide D. Input/Output E. STL and String Libraries References Index So, what makes this book bad? First, there is the problem of confusion of purpose. The book's title proclaims that it is: "C++ for C Programmers". From the title, the reader would expect that the book would assume that he knew C and would teach him C++. The first sentence of the Preface would support him in this idea: "The book uses an evolutionary teaching process, with C as a starting point and C++ as a destination." The first odd thing that the reader will notice is that each chapter includes a short section on Java. Why? There is no realistic hope of teaching the reader Java in so short a space; there is no reason to think that the reader wanted the book to teach him Java. The existence of these sections is a mystery. The second odd thing that the reader will notice is that the book attempts to teach him C. Take for example, the following from the book "2.81 Assignment and Expressions In C++, assignment occurs as part of an assignment expression, which can occur in several forms. a = b + 1; This expression evaluates the right-hand side of the assignment and converts it to a value compatible with the variable on the left-hand side..." Now the above is all very well, but if the reader already knows C, he is already aware of this - why explain it to him again? The author's instructions with regard to this question, from the start of the chapter, are curious: "For the experienced C programmer, most of this chapter's material should be skimmed and read mainly with an eye for differences between C and C++. These differences will be listed in the chapter summary, which the experienced C programmer can use to determine what to selectively read about." Quite. If the reader takes the author's advice, he will skip to the chapter summary, and read a summary of the differences. An example of these is the following: "In addition to implicit conversions, which can occur across assignments and in mixed expressions, there are explicit conversions called casts. New keywords introduced in C++ for casts are static_cast, reinterpret_cast, const_cast, and dynamic_cast." As can be seen, the summary does not tell the reader what he needs to know from the chapter, it instead tells him what he should try to go back and find in the chapter. The basic organizational model here is the scavenger hunt: the reader is given a list of things to find, and a locale in which those things are hidden; he is told to flip back and forth and scan until he has found (hopefully) the new material that the author has scattered through the old. The reader could be forgiven for thinking that the author was deliberately wasting his time. The second problem with the book is that it isn't very informative. For example, take the matter of the casts that are in C++ but not C, which I used in the previous example. The full description in the chapter of the const_cast is as follows: "Two other special casts exist in C++: const_cast and dynamic cast...The const modifier means that a variable's value is nonmodifiable. Very occasionally, it is convenient to remove this restriction. Doing so is known as 'casting away constness' and is accomplished with the const_cast, as in: foo(const_cast(c_var));// used to invoke foo..." Now, a cast is a type conversion, so the example would be much clearer if the prototype for foo() and the type of c_var were provided. Sadly, the author has presented neither. Still, the reader might hope that the extensive language guide section in the back would clarify matters. So he checks it and reads the following: "Two other special casts exist in C++: const_cast and dynamic cast...The const modifier means that a variable's value is nonmodifiable. Very occasionally, it is convenient to remove this restriction. Doing so is known as 'casting away constness' and is accomplished with the const_cast, as in: foo(const_cast(c_var));// used to invoke foo..." The reader is almost certain to be disappointed at this point - the description in the main text and that in the language reference are word-for-word identical, right down to the same, meaningless example. The only possible justification for the over-bare descriptions of the new features in the language is to keep the book short, but the book is padded three times over: it has material the reader doesn't want to know (Java), material the reader already knows (C), and material it has already presented (the main text/language guide reprint). In the absence of justifiable reasons for why the book is the way it is, the reader is forced to assume unjustifiable reasons: that the author and the publisher either didn't know how to keep faith with the reader or that they didn't care to, or quite possibly both.
Rating: 
Summary: a somewhat scatterbrained approach
Review: C++ is a broad subject and can be approached from many angles. Ira Pohl's approach is so non-standard, it left my head spinning. I read this book twice and still refer to it, but Pohl's PhD.-speak keeps getting in the way. If you like to read books written using down-to-earth termonology, look elsewhere...buy if you want to talk and write like a C++ guru, just imitate Pohl's literary style.
Rating:
Summary: I hate this book
Review: I had to unlearn what I learned from this book. I was in the middle of college, I had a horrible professor, and she assigned this book. The book is horribly confusing for one reason. The code examples. The editors take huge sections of code out and leave in "..." in its place. Well, you know what? I'm new and I need a freakin' example in context to figure it out. That's how I learn best. You have to string together code fragments from all over the book just to piece together one program. I got so frustrated with this book. I finally read Sam's Learn C++ in 10 Minutes and everything fell into place. That teaches you something, don't it? They had good examples and I learned right away. At least I know now I'm not an idiot. I actually saw someone's copy of the first edition and it was a good book. But it didn't have the imfamous "...". I assume like many computer company HR departments the editors don't know anything about programming. My advice is to do yourself a favor and get another book.
Rating:
Summary: I hate this book
Review: I had to unlearn what I learned from this book. I was in the middle of college, I had a horrible professor, and she assigned this book. The book is horribly confusing for one reason. The code examples. The editors take huge sections of code out and leave in "..." in its place. Well, you know what? I'm new and I need a freakin' example in context to figure it out. That's how I learn best. You have to string together code fragments from all over the book just to piece together one program. I got so frustrated with this book. I finally read Sam's Learn C++ in 10 Minutes and everything fell into place. That teaches you something, don't it? They had good examples and I learned right away. At least I know now I'm not an idiot. I actually saw someone's copy of the first edition and it was a good book. But it didn't have the imfamous "...". I assume like many computer company HR departments the editors don't know anything about programming. My advice is to do yourself a favor and get another book.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book
Review: I have Pohl's "A book on C", it is fantastic. So is this one. His consice and authoritive wording makes key ideas and concepts clear and memorable. Along with idiomatic examples which are OOP expressive, this is truly a great book for begin-to-subadvanced c++ readers.
Rating: 
Summary: Not anywhere near as good as "A book on C"
Review: I purchased C++ for C programmers because I had previously purchased "A book on C" by the same author and really liked it. I definitely wish that I had not. This book lacks clarity because the author spends too much time introducing details which are not relevant to learning the language. For instance, he continually introduces new abstract data types and in the process completely clouds and confuses the subject in c++ he is supposedly trying to teach. The book should be renamed "my personal tricks in c++"
Rating:
Summary: The book should be called C++ for C++ Programmers
Review: I'm dissapointed that Ira Pohl would write a book with such low quality. His book is inappropriately titled. In his book, he clearly states Java is better than C++. If that's the case, then why is he writing a book on C++? At any rate, this book does a lot to confuse readers by throwing information at us that doesn't apply to C++ knowlege. I feel that the original version of this book (which I own) does better job. Mr. Pohl takes way too much time in this book explaining C. We're C programmers. We don't need to re-learn C. This is one book I don't want in my reference library. "The C++ Programming Language" is a much better book. I often use my local library and it's ordering resources to check out books before buying. At 40-80 bucks a pop, I can't afford to buy junk. Hits: 1) Includes brief review of STL.
2) Includes more coverage of the C++ language. Misses: 1) Not worth buying. Might check out from library if really needed.
2) Confuses readers with comparisons of Java vs. C++
3) Treats C programmer as inexperienced.
4) 1st edition much better at focusing on issue of teaching C++ to C programmers.
Rating:
Summary: If you have to, get this from the library. Don't buy.
Review: I'm dissapointed that Ira Pohl would write a book with such low quality. His book is inappropriately titled. In his book, he clearly states Java is better than C++. If that's the case, then why is he writing a book on C++? At any rate, this book does a lot to confuse readers by throwing information at us that doesn't apply to C++ knowlege. I feel that the original version of this book (which I own) does better job. Mr. Pohl takes way too much time in this book explaining C. We're C programmers. We don't need to re-learn C. This is one book I don't want in my reference library. "The C++ Programming Language" is a much better book. I often use my local library and it's ordering resources to check out books before buying. At 40-80 bucks a pop, I can't afford to buy junk. Hits: 1) Includes brief review of STL.
2) Includes more coverage of the C++ language. Misses: 1) Not worth buying. Might check out from library if really needed.
2) Confuses readers with comparisons of Java vs. C++
3) Treats C programmer as inexperienced.
4) 1st edition much better at focusing on issue of teaching C++ to C programmers.
Rating:
Summary: Not anywhere near as good as "A book on C"
Review: Ira Pohl has 30 years with experience as a "software methodologist" and is "internationally recognized" etc... He has No webste, No Links, No Email, No CD, No PDF, lots of errors, guys probably a professor at a college, hmm, just like the rest. Does Quality Exist? If so where...
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