[BOOK] C++ Programmer's Reference

[Computer Whizz]

Hiya guys,

I saw this (C++ Programmer's Reference by Herbert Schildt) book in the
library today, and wondered what the experienced programmer thought about it
before I decided to dive in and get it.

Most of the posts I've read seem to have an opinion of a wide variety of
books, yet I did a google search of this group and didn't find much - maybe
the odd mention of the author.

I did take a quick browse while I had the chance, and it looked like it
mentioned the functions and headers in the standard library and gave
definitions of the parameters, maybe an example or two...

But I really value the opinions of the members in this group, the last book
that was recommended from here (c.l.c++) was Bjarne Strousup's (sorry if the
spelling is incorrect) & Andrew Koeing's 'Accelerated C++' which is an
excellent book for explaining the various points of the language to one who
is unfamiliar with programming - yet there are points it can get a bit hairy
(somewhere around classes and structs, where it contains long sentences with
long words - assuming you know what these words mean), going through rather
quickly at some points, and then tediously slow at others, repeating the
same point 3 or 4 times.

That's my opinion anyway, but it is a good book, and has given me much more
than any online source has been able to.
Your opinion on this book, and any other STL reference book would be very
helpful as understanding all the functions/classes/etc in the standard
library is a main point for me...

I thank you for sparing the time to read this post, and I hope you take the
time to reply.

 

[Alf P. Steinbach]

* Computer Whizz:

I saw this (C++ Programmer's Reference by Herbert Schildt) book in the
library today, and wondered what the experienced programmer thought about it
before I decided to dive in and get it.

From the C FAQ:

16: Why do many experts not think very highly of Herbert Schildt's
books?

A good answer to this question could fill a book by itself. While
no book is perfect, Schildt's books, in the opinion of many
gurus, seem to positively aim to mislead learners and encourage
bad habits. Schildt's beautifully clear writing style only makes
things worse by causing many "satisfied" learners to recommend his
books to other learners.

Do take a look at the following scathing articles before deciding
to buy a Schildt text.
http://www.lysator.liu.se/c/schildt.html
http://herd.plethora.net/~seebs/c/c_tcr.html

The above reviews are admittedly based on two of Schildt's older
books. However, the language they describe has not changed in the
intervening period, and several books written at around the same
time remain highly regarded.

The following humorous post also illustrates the general feeling
towards Schildt and his books.
http://www.qnx.com/~glen/deadbeef/2764.html

There is exactly one and ONLY one C book bearing Schildt's name on
its cover that is at all recommended by many C experts - see Q 25.

25: Where can I obtain a copy of the standards for C and C++?

 

[jeffc]

Hiya guys,

I saw this (C++ Programmer's Reference by Herbert Schildt) book in the
library today, and wondered what the experienced programmer thought about it
before I decided to dive in and get it.

http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=schildt+bad&qt_s=Search+Groups

 

[Victor Bazarov]

I saw this (C++ Programmer's Reference by Herbert Schildt) book in the

Don't you mean "C/C++ Programmer's Reference"? There were three editions
if it, AFAICT, 1997, 2000, 2003. Which one are you talking about? There
were also "C++: The Complete Reference" by Herbert Schildt...

library today, and wondered what the experienced programmer thought about it
before I decided to dive in and get it.

See http://www.accu.org/bookreviews/public/index.htm and Google Groups
(http://groups.google.com) for information on the opinions about his work.

[...]

 

[Vyacheslav Kononenko]

This link seems not working.

 

[red floyd]

This link seems not working.

The Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org) is your friend.

 

[Computer Whizz]

Don't you mean "C/C++ Programmer's Reference"? There were three editions
if it, AFAICT, 1997, 2000, 2003. Which one are you talking about? There
were also "C++: The Complete Reference" by Herbert Schildt...

I'm pretty sure it was just plain C++ programmers reference. I noted it down
while I was there so I could look into it more... I'll have to visit it
again tomorrow to look into it more.

library today, and wondered what the experienced programmer thought about
it before I decided to dive in and get it.

See http://www.accu.org/bookreviews/public/index.htm and Google Groups
(http://groups.google.com) for information on the opinions about his work.

[...]

Yeah. From what I've seen his C books have a bad reputation, but not much on
his C++ stuff (and the replies from the other guys here).

How's about a C++ reference book from Bjarne? I know he's the co-founder (or
however you wish to put it) etc.. But any information?

I don't want a total beginner's book, more of a standard library book with
the headers, function's, parameters and perhaps a good example of usage.

I thank you for all steering me away from this mistake.

 

[Mike Wahler]

See http://www.accu.org/bookreviews/public/index.htm and Google Groups
(http://groups.google.com) for information on the opinions about his work.

[...]

Yeah. From what I've seen his

[H. Schildt]

C books have a bad reputation, but not much on
his C++ stuff (and the replies from the other guys here).

IMO if he cannot get it right with C, his chances of doing
so with C++ are even less. But that's just me.

How's about a C++ reference book from Bjarne? I know he's the co-founder (or
however you wish to put it) etc.. But any information?

I don't want a total beginner's book, more of a standard library book with
the headers, function's, parameters and perhaps a good example of usage.

I find a good 'high-level' approach is that of "Accelerated C++".
www.acceleratedcpp.com It's for the beginner to C++, but presumes
previous programming knowledge in one or more other languages.
Of all my C++ books, I think this one does the best at getting
one to the point of writing actual useful programs as quickly
as possible.

IMO the very best available book on the C++ standard library is
the one by N. Josuttis. www.josuttis.com/libbook

Also check out the reviews at www.accu.org

HTH,
-Mike

 

[Jon Bell]

How's about a C++ reference book from Bjarne? I know he's the co-founder (or
however you wish to put it) etc.. But any information?

I don't want a total beginner's book, more of a standard library book with
the headers, function's, parameters and perhaps a good example of usage.

My most-used *reference* works for C++ are

Stroustrup, "The C++ Programming Language" (either the 3rd edition or the
"special edition")

Josuttis, "The C++ Standard Library".

When I want to look something up, I go first to Stroustrup, then to
Josuttis if it's about the standard library and I need more depth than
Stroustrup gives.

IMHO all serious C++ programmers, or programmers who aspire to such,
should have these two books on their shelves. That's not to say they
should be your *only* books, of course. If you're in the beginning stages
of learning C++, you need a book or two that is explicitly intended to
teach beginners. Like Mike, I think Koenig and Moo's "Accelerated C++" is
the way to go if you've already done some programming in other languages.

 

[Chris Dearlove]

Jon Bell ([email protected]) wrote:
: When I want to look something up, I go first to Stroustrup, then to
: Josuttis if it's about the standard library and I need more depth than
: Stroustrup gives.

I prefer Austern's book to Josuttis for the STL part of the standard
library. (*) Of course that leaves one very large hole - streams -
and a number of smaller holes - strings, complex, type information
and so on. Langer & Kreft's book will plug the large hole with more
detail than Josuttis, but for the final bits you are back to Josuttis
or Stroustrup. (www.accu.org will give you the full book references.)

But don't get me wrong. If Austern, Langer and Kreft hadn't written
their books I'd be recommending Josuttis as invaluable. As it is he's
just very good (and cheaper than two books).

(*) Anyone who knows enough to nit-pick this sentence also knows
exactly what I mean.

 

[Computer Whizz]

My most-used *reference* works for C++ are

Stroustrup, "The C++ Programming Language" (either the 3rd edition or the
"special edition")

Josuttis, "The C++ Standard Library".

When I want to look something up, I go first to Stroustrup, then to
Josuttis if it's about the standard library and I need more depth than
Stroustrup gives.

IMHO all serious C++ programmers, or programmers who aspire to such,
should have these two books on their shelves. That's not to say they
should be your *only* books, of course. If you're in the beginning stages
of learning C++, you need a book or two that is explicitly intended to
teach beginners. Like Mike, I think Koenig and Moo's "Accelerated C++" is
the way to go if you've already done some programming in other languages.

Any thoughts on where to go from Accelerated C++ as I'm quite close to the
end with it.

I shall get both books you've recommended there (probably the "special
edition" from Stroustrup as I've seen that book's name pop up alot of times
in here).

Thank you for all your help on this matter - it has pointed me in the (I
hope) correct direction.

 

[Mike Wahler]

Jon Bell ([email protected]) wrote:
: When I want to look something up, I go first to Stroustrup, then to
: Josuttis if it's about the standard library and I need more depth than
: Stroustrup gives.

I prefer Austern's book to Josuttis for the STL part of the standard
library. (*) Of course that leaves one very large hole - streams -
and a number of smaller holes - strings, complex, type information
and so on. Langer & Kreft's book will plug the large hole with more
detail than Josuttis, but for the final bits you are back to Josuttis
or Stroustrup. (www.accu.org will give you the full book references.)

But don't get me wrong. If Austern, Langer and Kreft hadn't written
their books I'd be recommending Josuttis as invaluable. As it is he's
just very good (and cheaper than two books).

(*) Anyone who knows enough to nit-pick this sentence also knows
exactly what I mean.

I have copies of all of the above books. I don't consider
either Austern or Josuttis to be 'better' than the other,
I see Josuttis as more of an explanatory (and reference)
book, and Austern more as a 'how to book (i.e. more about
applying the C++ library than explaining it'). I find having
both books a very useful combination (for stdlib-specific stuff).
I find my nose in Stroustrup's book very frequently as well.
I find L&K invaluable for detailed, in-depth IOstreams issues.

Just wish I had more time to read.

$.02, (Oops! I just spent two more cents, now I can't afford
another C++ book! )

-Mike

 

[Mike Wahler]

Any thoughts on where to go from Accelerated C++ as I'm quite close to the
end with it.

I shall get both books you've recommended there (probably the "special
edition" from Stroustrup as I've seen that book's name pop up alot of times
in here).

IMO Stroustrup would probably be a good next step after AC++.
Also check out Scott Meyers' "Effective C++", "More Effective C++"
(I have the CD version of these, being able to search them with
the computer is great), "Effective STL"; and Herb Sutter's
"Exceptional C++". I got these at a point I now realize was too
soon for me at the time, but now I'm very glad I have them. Oh,
and I almost forgot: the last one I got which I like very much is
"Object Oriented Programming with C++", by N.Jousttis. For learning
more about working with templates, I find Josuttis' & Vandevoorde's
"C++ Templates" to be unmatched.

HTH,
-Mike