Turbo C, Turbo C/C++, and Borland C/C++ each consist of a compiler, libraries of functions, and a software development environment for editing, managing compilation, and debugging. This reference manual for these three related products covers each of these aspects of the products in detail. It also describes the history and components of C and C++ in tutorial fashion, with numerous short, self-contained examples.
The second edition offers a number of improvements and additions to the first [1]. The index has been redone by a professional indexer and is excellent. The new table of contents, attractive page layout, and typography are much more readable and effective. Newly added are a four-chapter section on Windows programming, a chapter on C++ array-based I/O, and an appendix describing built-in global variables. Except for the added material and new layout, however, the text of the second edition is generally identical to that of the first.
The book has 38 chapters and three appendices organized into seven parts. Parts 1 through 3 cover Turbo C, and Parts4 and 5 cover Turbo and Borland C++. The separate treatment of C and C++ reflects the fact that they are provided as separate products. Part 6 covers Borland C++ Windows programming, and the three appendices that make up Part7 cover the C++ debugger, assembly language interfacing, and global variables provided by the compilers.
The 11 chapters of Part 1 describe the C language. The first chapter provides perspective on C in the wider spectrum of programming languages and concepts. The next seven chapters describe standard ANSI C syntax and semantics, and the final three chapters describe features specific to Turbo C. The three chapters of Part 2 describe the Turbo C programming environment, the text editor, and the compiler and linker. The chapters on Turbo C and its environment are clear and complete, and they provide an adequate introduction for novices.
Part 3, whose 370 pages constitute roughly a third of the book, describes the Turbo C library functions. Separate chapters address I/O, character and string manipulation, mathematical operations, time calls, memory allocation, directory operations, process control, and text and graphics. A short section is provided for each function, containing the function interface prototype, a description of the function, and an example of code that uses the function. This part of the book contains the most valuable reference material. A shortcoming is that no summary of functions is provided, so a user must browse through an entire chapter to learn which functions are available and what purpose they serve.
The six chapters of Part 4 describe C++ syntax and semantics. The first chapter introduces the basic concepts of C++ and the philosophy of object-oriented design. Separate chapters are then dedicated to classes, overloading, inheritance and polymorphism, the I/O class library, and array-based I/O. The three chapters of Part 5 describe the C++ development environment, the editor, and the command-line compiler. Missing are chapters documenting the numerous libraries and class definitions provided by Borland C++. The reader must refer to the product documentation for this information.
Part 6 focuses on C++ as a tool for Microsoft Windows programming. The first chapter provides an overview of Windows and presents a simple application. The remaining chapters describe event handling, message boxes and menus, and dialogue boxes. Each chapter contains long, fully described, illustrative code examples. Much is not covered, including graphics, fonts, and color; nevertheless, the chapters provide a useful, easy-to-understand introduction to Windows programming.
The book is most suitable for casual C and C++ programmers who are getting started with Borland’s products. A diskette containing all examples is available at a moderate price. Although the book often provides wordy, high-level explanations of C and C++ fundamentals, its organization as a reference manual makes the book unsuitable as a tutorial for learning C or C++. Advanced programmers will quickly exceed the book’s technical limits and will need Borland’s extensive product and library documentation for details. Overall, the writing and examples are clear, the organization is good, and the information is abundant and easy to find.
