Fernando LANGE said
As the title says, this is a complete C++ book. And very well written, with explanations of easy understanding. I recommend this Herbert Schildt's "The Complete Reference C++", as well as "C++ A Beginners's Guide" by the same author. Both of diary reference for me.
Joshua R. Rodgers said
I bought this book quite some time back. I learned C++ at the age of 12, and this was an incredible help in learning C++ during my teenage years! I'm now 24 and always remember this book in particular as an aide in learning C++.
vladox said
I would give the book 3.5 stars, but we live in a world of integer stars so there goes a four star.
This is a fairly good tutorial for C++, and it does also a fairly good job as a reference. Nevertheless it absolutely fails to be a complete reference.
1. One *very important* weekness I see in this book is its utter lack of explanation on the compiler options, and how to link programs. It simply does not even mention how to create your own header files, or link libraries. This is unforgivable for a book that claims to be a complete reference.
2. The repetition of the descriptions of STL libraries like vector, string and maps is completely unnecessary. In my opinion it would be much more efficient to first introduce in depth the concepts of the STL which are hardest to chew for beginners (i.e. iterators, containers, allocators, function objects, adaptors and binders) and then describe the container classes sequentially instead of scattering descriptions over chapters 24 to 38. Furthermore, the behavior of many members of the STL libraries are exactly the same (i.e. put_back() will do the same regardless of the container), synthesizing those common features in the introduction of the STL would be extremely beneficial and it would save at least 150 pages of this book.
3. There is no mention in the book of important vanguard topics like using the BOOST library or how to include graphics libraries.
4. No mention on how to embed code, except for how to use the keyword extern in one short paragraph.
5. It would be nice if the book dedicated at least one chapter to good coding practices to improve readability (i.e. how to organize classes, aligning text in definitions, aligning parameters in functions, etc.).
6. It would be very useful to have at least one chapter on multithreading and parallel computing in C++ as they are very important for complex applications and scientific computing, especially when time consuming computations are involved.
In summary, I believe the name of the book should be "The complete Beginner's Reference" and restructure all chapters after number 24. The book is still a good starting point to learn C++, and even to use it as a good reference, but it would be really good to include some new topics in it.
John M. Danskin said
My older references are in storage and I thought it would be neat to have a c++ ref on my kindle. It says reference and the reviews are good, so I bought it.
I wanted to be reminded of how to use variable numbers of parameters for macro defines. Forget whether this is a good idea. It's a language feature and I want to know how it works.
#define with parameters is handled in one paragraph which doesn't even include the possibility of multiple parameters, let alone any details. Given this, I was curious to see if there was any discussion of the continuation-line functionality in the preprocessor. Nope. Not there.
I'm sure this is a wonderful c++ primer as the other reviews indicate. My spot check demonstrates that this is in no way a complete reference.
Even if you don't like a coding style, completeness allows you to read the code of others.
So I'm out $28 bucks and my question isn't answered. oh well.
Ashraf Eassa said
Herbert Schildt's "C++: The Complete Reference" is a gargantuan tome indeed. It fully covers the C++ syntax, and gives useful, working examples that demonstrate each of the language's features. If you're a professional (or hobbyist) working on a project and need to quickly look up how to use some part of C++ syntax, then this book is absolutely perfect. If you're a developer who has spent his/her life working in C and want to (or need to!) learn C++, then you'll find this book's content well organized and you'll be able to find what you need instantly.
Also, this book seems as though it could function as a tutorial for the complete beginner. Now, I didn't learn C++ from this book initially, so I can't really speak from experience, but the book DOES cover the entire syntax and it does so in an unpretentious and very clear manner. The only thing that it's missing for newbies is exercises -- but if you're really serious, you'll make up your own little tasks, or try to extend/modify the examples.
I program video games as a hobby and have used this as a reference countless times in various projects. I've obviously bought other reference books ("C++ in a Nutshell", and Stroustrup's tome), but I find that this book is my most used and most beloved reference.
So, if you're looking for a clear, easy to understand reference on C++, I reccomend this tome. If you're a true C++ neophyte, then perhaps you should purchase this book along with Schildt's "C++: A beginner's Guide" or "C++ from the Ground Up" (also by Schildt).
Comments