C++ Primer (5th Edition)

This is a very well written book. I'm an experienced programmer (C# and I have had experience with C++ a few years back, but nothing too serious), so it's hard for me to judge this from a beginner's perspective; however, my experience gives me a bit of an insight into what a book should include and how the material should be structured. I know what I want to get out of a book and so it makes it easy for me to judge whether that requirement has been fulfilled. I must say that this book has managed well in every aspect. It does a good job of explaining things well enough, without making it all too dry and boring. Many books do a poor job of focusing too much on some topics to the point where it's unbearable to read them, while failing to cover certain topics in any reasonable detail. I haven't had any issues with this one. It's a pretty thick book (~900 pages of actual material) and it does a good job of putting it all together. It feels like it was written by real working human beings, rather than some academic poindexter with no real-life experience. There's no pointless humor and at the same time there is absolutely no attempt at sounding superior in any of explanations in attempt to impress the reader. This book is a very easy read. I am incredibly picky on books and it's not easy to please me -- I haven't found any faults worth of mentioning with this book. I don't think a beginner will have too much difficulty with this book and I definitely think that experienced programmers wanting to brush up on their C++ will get a lot out of this. This thing will stay in my library (it's a shame there's no hardcover version, I enjoy those).As a tip to any beginners, read through the book lightly for the first time. What I mean is that don't attempt to understand everything right away and don't focus too much on the details. Make a note of the areas you had difficulty understanding, do a slight research to see if you can grasp it right away, but don't focus on that too much. You'll be surprised how much of the earlier information will become clear and a second nature to you as you progress further. Once you're done with your first read-through, go back and see if you still don't understand any of the areas you've marked down. I'm sure that you'll be able to eliminate many of them. At this point, focus heavily on the areas you still have difficulty with. Of course, results will vary and not everyone learns the same way, but this has worked out very well for me. That's how I study for everything. I read through any material very lightly the firs time around, to get the general feeling and find the areas I'll be focusing on, and then go back to focus on those details. This strategy helped me maintain 4.0 in Computer Science, so the results are real (but once again, it may vary by person).

I am not a paid shill. I am new to programming and have only dabbled lightly in JavaScript. At time of review I am currently 250 pages into the book.The Physical:The physical quality of the book is amazing. The binding really helps the book lay flat while avoiding awkward spiral binding found in some books. The text is printed clearly is and is easy to read.The Content:The overwhelming consensus is that C++ is a more difficult language to grasp (than other languages) as a person new to programming. In the little bit of time I have spent learning JavaScript compared to C++, I can confirm that statement as being true.This book does not provide a magic bullet for grasping unusual concepts. It does however explain everything in detail and in a manner that is clear. Areas of the book can quickly become overwhelming especially if previous information is not clearly understood.I am currently taking a Udemy course in parallel with reading this book and each learning mechanism compliments the other. I also am referencing a github repository with completed exercises for concepts I am struggling with. Typically I will read 5-6 pages and try to apply that knowledge in a program. I find that if I spend too much time reading without much time practicing the concepts, then the information is lost in memory.The book has an excellent index in the back that makes using this as a reference manual very appealing.The book is quite dense and moves over some complicated concepts rather quickly. I am often having to reread paragraphs and practice code to fully understand what the book is trying to tell me. This book is a great resource for someone wanting to learn C++. If you are absolutely new to programming, you will want a second (more) beginner friendly source of information to aid in understanding some difficult concepts.

This book was recommended by Microsoft learn. It has subjects in it that are not in Beginning Programming with C++ for Dummies like the vector topic. I do not think this book is a great first option for people with no experience. I find that some of the subjects are confusing because I dont quite think that way. For instance when making a vector change to upper case letters. My first though was not to make a reference of a reference to change the characters in a vector. This Microsoft course said its a great source for learning modern syntax practices. Im on chapter 3 and it would be a lot harder without AI helping me in Visual Studio. Some of the exercises have taken me a few days to figure out. I thought the quiz in chapter 1 was hard. I had a difficult time writing the code because I had no idea what was going on in the header file. It teaches you after the fact how to make one. I found it difficult to use the variables in the header file since I couldn't understand it.

I have been programming for years but I wanted a deeper understanding of C++ so I bought this book. Its not the newest version of the language but there are a lot of really good tips in this book. Highly recommend to anyone wanting to get better at C++