ACCU Reviews: Learn C++ on the PC

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Book Review

Learn C++ on the PC by Dave Mark
Recommended

ISBN: 0-201-62622-5 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pages: 425pp + disk Price: £31-10

Categories: beginner's c++ object oriented

Reviewed by Eddie Boyle in C Vu 6-6 (Sep 1994)

I was impressed with this book even before I opened it. This was due to the diskette included - it has all of the code, a cut-down version of the Symantec C++ compiler (able to compile all of the supplied code) and an editor just in case. You can also get a discount on the full compiler. Even so, the book is totally impartial about Symantec. The book is very much a tutorial. Each chapter takes around 1/2 to 1 hour to work through. You do need to know C before using this book. It should be used alongside the computer rather than read on its own. The code for each tutorial program is analysed line-by-line so you need to see the original code. There is a full appendix of all the source code. The indentation on the source diskette is a bit erratic for code that might be copied by the reader but is correct in the Appendix.

There is steady progress from C to C++ and then to Object Orientation (OO). This is important as most books seem to throw C++ and OO together. The book starts by describing the new C++ features as compared to C. This treats each feature individually so that you can fully understand it. It then moves onto Objects and shows you that an Object is simply a data structure with some functions connected to it. That's it. You simply take the C concept of a 'structure' and add some functions to it.

Once Objects are understood it then explains that Classes are just a simpler and safer method of creating them. From there it explains Derived Classes, Inheritance and Operator Overloading. The final chapters cover input/output (including files), Multiple Inheritance and a brief look at the available Class Libraries (MFC, OWL and Symantec).

WARNING: Despite the cover blurb the compiler supplied did NOT work on my Hewlett Packard Vectra 486DX 33ST. It did work on a Hewlett Packard Vectra 386SX RS/25C.

Comment:
This puzzles me, and I wonder if something such as an extended memory handler's settings was the cause of the problem - Francis Glassborow
In conclusion I'd say this book has opened up C++ and OO to me, something which other books have failed to do. I strongly recommend it if you are learning C++ on your own without any guidance.

Other Authors with the same surname

Mark
Learn C on the Macintosh by Dave Mark (Reviewed Jan 1993)
MacIntosh C Programming Primer by D Mark & C Reed (Reviewed Mar 1993)

Last Update - 13 May 2001.

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