Customer Reviews
Very good book... 
2006-11-21
I read through this after being pleased with the Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days book. I learned how to use the Microsoft Visual C++ software, and I use it as a reference regularly. I would recommend this to someone who already has a working knowledge of C++ and who would like to learn how to use the Microsoft Visual Studio/C++ software. Ideas in the book can easily be applied to Microsoft Visual Basic or any of the Microsoft Visual compiler software releases.
Sure, this book isn't perfect but ... 2006-03-22
this book isn't really all that bad for those who'd like a decent intro to Visual C++ unlike what the book's haters would like to have you believe.
An excellent introduction to Visual C++ 2005-10-11
At first I began reviewing this book as I studied it but scrapped that review as being far too lengthy - I had detailed some of the bugs that I had found in both the book's code and the book's website's downloadable code. Yes, there are some bugs and I did have a certain amount of trouble running some of the days code.
Nevertheless, the book does seem to have some merit: It is, for the most part, clearly written and, for an introductory text, the example programs seem very ambitious, and thus interesting and almost useful in their own right, something that is rare in many introductory texts.
The author seems to be a very good C++ programmer and the presentation is very clear and concise - it just seems that the book may have been written and finished in haste, hence the (fairly "minor") errors and bugs that appear. Additionally, the downloadable source code does not always match that of the book making the programming somewhat confusing at times.Additionally, there are some lines that are in the book but commented out in the source code - apparently they had to be for the code to compile correctly.
A better introductory book on MFC is Herb Schildt's MFC Programming From the Ground Up, 2nd edition,also written for Visual C++ version 6. Schildt's book is bug free and as an introductory text it does not use the Visual C++ AppWizard and
Document/View architecture until the final chapters, thus truly teaching MFC fundamentals without the confusion inherent in the AppWizard and Document/View code.
Great for beginners 2005-08-09
I am new to Visual C++ and this book was recommended to me by my instructor. It uses easy to understand directions when building applications. I would suggest this book to anyone who wants to learn this language.
This is a useless book 
2005-06-24
Experienced in C and C++ I wanted to get started using Visual C++.
My first steps were through the online help of VC++, using the IDE and ClassWizard it is quite easy to build standard applications.
Then I wanted to understand a bit more about VC++ and bought this book. From the first to the last page, it says actually the same thing as the basic help: two pages to explain that you have to click this and that to get to a wizard or a menu, then... you get the very standard stuff.
The sample code? the code and its explanations are useless: this is almost what you find through the online help ; it will work the very standard way, but if you need to customize a bit (and you will need to) then you start to become more and more angry about this book, as nothing deeper is available.
I'm decided today to write this review as to encourage publishers to better select their books. This one is really a waste of time.
Excellent MFC book ( Life saver ) 2005-06-22
Learn Visual C++ through the Teach Yourself series, with sections on: Q&A, Do's and Don'ts, Workshop, Shaded syntax boxes, Type/Output/Analysis icons. Week One starts you with Visual C++. After installing and maneuvering through the components of the software, you'll examine a preliminary program to get the feel for C++ and Visual C++. You'll learn: C++ basics; hierarchies; members, functions, and objects; inheritance; MFC; installing Visual C++, the Visual C++ compiler. In Week Two, you'll look at components of Windows applications and how they are invoked with Visual C++. Topics include: keyboard input; mouse usage; data file handling; lists and serialization; toolbars and status bars; graphics; and projects. Week Three examines the more involved aspects of Visual C++ and Windows applications.
If you got a little C++ under your belt this book rocks 2004-10-12
I love this book. Its one of the books i go back to again and again and test and check on ideas. It has enough to get you up and programming windows in no time. I have used the examples in simple programs to build complete apps. Just remmeber to experiment a little. You should use wizards to create the start of a program. The idea of the MSVC ide and why its so good is it safes you time with things you don't need to do, so you have more time on things that you have to do. MSVC is the best IDE i have used since old classic Turbo C++. This book doesn't really teach you C++ programming in the strict sense, it helps you get to upto speed in windows if you know some. Its pretty gentle in helping someone with only basic understanding of C++. Say a couple of hours of reading schuam outline series on C++ or Deitel. Don't forget to download the examples from the internet. The Timing and winsock are great. I like most of the sams books though. This is the book to get if you want to learn to program windows for the first time if you have Visual C++ 6.0. If you have .net studio maybe its better to get the .net title. The book doesn't cover version control which is part of source safe and Help contexts. But most books can't cover everything. The newer Windows apps generally use htmlhelp. But as you know businesses take years to upgrade to the latest version . I know of lots of commercial Buildings that use DOS programs to run there air conditioning/heating.
Could be a great book...the errors kill it 2004-06-24
Too bad it was not properly edited (by me).
Get the Ivor Horton Beginning VC++ from Wrox
Wrox books are carefully edited but not perfect
This is good for a beginner 
2004-02-04
I really liked this book as a Beginner since it teaches a lot about the visual studio environment and also takes you step-by-step through applications. Not the greatest in-depth or and by no means advanced. But its super for a beginner.If you know little of VC++ and even less of MFC then START here. Notice I emphasized Start....since you will need to read lots of other books to gain deeper understanding. Take this from someone who struggled with the advanced books and then got a better start with this one.
Probably not for beginners 2003-11-04
This was the first book on Visual C++ 6 I ever purchased...well, it's actually still the only one I own. I've been casually reading it and programming from it for - a lot longer than 21 days.
In my opinion, this book is not for beginners. It's taken me a long while to begin to pick up some of the concepts that Chapman is constantly throwing into the picture. While I have grasped a great deal about C++ through this book, I am going to buy another one soon, one that more thoroughly covers the details instead of trying to cram the whole picture down at once.
