How Not to Program in C++: 111 Broken Programs and 3 Working Ones, or Why Does 2+2=5986
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Author: Steve Oualline
List Price: $24.95
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 1886411956
Publisher: No Starch Press (March, 2003)
Edition: Paperback
Sales Rank: 327,931
Average Customer Rating: 3.25 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 4 out of 5
Good refresher of C++
Are you the type of programmer who also likes logic puzzles, or chess problems and crosswords in newspapers? Did you ace the logic part of an SAT or GRE exam? Then this book is for you!You are learning C++. Or perhaps you need a refresher. You may not be facile with all the nuances. Learn by doing. The book has 111 programs that don't quite work. All you need is enough discipline to work through the programs without peeking at the answers until you have give it your best try. The book assumes that you are already mostly familiar with the syntax of C++. While some programs explore the subtleties of this, the author expects that you can at least code a simple C++ task. The programs are not antipatterns, though. I could not discern any higher level structure across the programs to suggest this. Perhaps the best way to regard this book is as a cheap refresher exam. Mental stretching exercises.
Rating: 3 out of 5
unpolished
This book illustrates several common errors that every C++ programmers will encounter. There is no substitute for learning from your own mistakes, but forewarned is forearmed. If you read this book before you make the mistakes, you will save yourself some time. The humor scattered through the book helps keep the subject light.Unfortunately, the book is flawed beyond those bugs which were introduced intentionally. In one case a program was unintentionally corrected, leaving no errors to be found. Some of the programs seem unnecessarily long for the bug they are illustrating. Like most computer programs, this book would have benefitted from peer review prior to its release.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Only for extreme novice C++ programmers
The concept of this book is good, but the execution is seriously lacking. The "bugs" in Mr.Oualline's programs are the kinds of errors only the most unskilled novices would make: a missing space character in a format statement; accessing a 5-element array with index values of 1 thru 5; a class whose constructor allocates storage but whose destructor doesn't release the memory. Trivial, easy-to-spot errors that don't really expand anyone's grasp of C++. To add insult to injury, large portions of the book are filled with Mr.Oualline's tiresome war stories and aphorisms. A much better source of knowledge is "C++ Gotchas", any of Scott Meyers' books, or the "C++ FAQ".
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