NetNews Offline 2/NetNews Offline Volume 2.iso/news/comp/lang/c++-part1/8422

Internet Message Format | 1996-08-05 | 5.0 KB

Path: ix.netcom.com!netnews
From: Manuel Hernandez <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: REVIEW: Visual C++ in 12 Easy Lessons
Date: 18 Feb 1996 01:18:20 GMT
Organization: Netcom
Message-ID: <4g5uos$[e-mail]>
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X-NETCOM-Date: Sat Feb 17  5:18:20 PM PST 1996

[e-mail] (Scott McMahan - Softbase Systems) writes:
> Here is a brief review of Visual C++ in 12 Easy Lessons, by
> Perry and Spencer, published by Sams.
>
> I bought a copy of VC++ in 12 Easy Lessons for one reason: As a lifelong
> Borland C++ programmer, I had never used Microsoft's Visual C++ and
> wanted to pad out my resume by claiming familiarity with it. Even I
> can't bluff enough to claim I can use a development system I've never
> even seen before! So I wanted a cheap copy of VC++ to experiment with.
> Also, I had run across a lot of code that was in VC++ format which I
> couldn't compile easily in BC++, so I wanted a copy of the compiler. The
> package I got was a cheap and easy way to get a copy of the compiler.
>
> The package I got was a "VC++ Starter Kit", which proclaimed to be the
> full 1.0 version of VC++. This is like DOS World magazine's BASIC
> compiler -- it professes to be the compiler bundled with a book, but
> turns out when you get it to be a book with the compiler thrown in. So I
> wound up with a book, and after reading it, thought I'd review it. My
> review will hopefully help others who are trying to decide if they
> want to get this or recommend it to others.
>
> In general, the advice to avoid any book that mentions doing anything in
> a unit (days, lessons, etc) is sound. I've never been surprised by one
> of these books that was any good, although I've never gone out of my way
> to read them. It certainly is true in this case.
>
> Here are some items of note about the book:
>
> 1. "void main()" -- it's an epidemic. People just have to use the void,
> even though 1) it is incorrect, and 2) it is easier on beginners NOT to
> use it since it is an incorrect, confusing point that doesn't even
> have to be raised since "main()" is valid and simpler. For giggles
> and grins, I went into the VC++ help, and it did not mention void:
>
>     Syntax     main( int argc, char *argv[ ], char *envp[ ] )
>         {
>             program-statements
>         }
>
> At least Microsoft got it right.
>
> 2. Lesson 2 is apparently there to convince people that C++ is a
> cryptic language. Statements like "the purpose of these two lines
> of code is hidden in the cryptic Visual C++ language" hammer in
> the point that C++ is cryptic. So when do the easy lessons start?
> They seem to have lost sight of the professed goal of the book!
>
> 3. I found code that is nonsensical and error-filled.  Here is a
> sample from p. 47:
>
>     for (int ctr=0; ctr > 0; ctr)    // prints the numbers
>     {                // from 10 to 1
>         cout << ctr << endl;    // on-screen
>     }
>
> Apparently, this code is supposed to do something, but the loop control
> variable ctr is never modified. This is supposed to help beginners
> learn? They seem to need a "--" someplace in the loop.  This is not a
> typographical error, since the same code is repeated on page 48!
>
> Code like this is the scourge of books which claim to teach you
> something. If a beginner tries to learn from code like this, the
> beginner will have a hard time, since the code is wrong but the beginner
> doesn't KNOW that the code is wrong.
>
> With regard to #3, it is interesting that M&T books are the WORST
> offenders -- I have gotten several of their books on sale tables, and
> each has looked like a rough draft was mistakenly sent to the printers.
> Elementary grammar errors, code that won't compile, and other problems
> can be found on almost every page. The Tao Of Objects is a bad one. Most
> of the code samples in it are error-filled. Sams is a close second,
> especially their This Book Was Written And Published in 21 Days series.
> They are slopped together and not edited.
>
> 4. The book is a layout nightmare. Between "Concept" boxes, "Note"
> boxes, "Review" boxes, it gives you a headache to read the text, and
> keeps your eyes busy trying to discern what is text and what isn't.
> Also, all of these things are in different formats and fonts -- notes
>
> to VC++, not generic C++.
I also got the book.This was a piece of ambiguous packaging.It came in a
cardboard box like it was an application. I was happy with the cheap compiler,
so I did not take it back. The first 16 chapters are mildly palatable. After
that the book is a minefield of frustrating prose and code. Of course, chapters
1-16 are your standard procedural and modular programming lessons.Once he gets to
structs, and classes his examples are either silly or badly written. Even as a
beginner I recognize this.

    I went out and bought a copy of Stroustrup's " The C++ Programming Language"
I'm happy now, but it seems weird that in the computer industry so much attention
and respect gets heaped on so few people while millions toil. However I digress.