I have taught a number of short courses on C++ to various groups of people. I am often asked to suggest the one necessary book on C++. This particular textbook is appropriate for people with no prior programming experience. Its author, Bjarne Stroustrup, is the creator of the C++ programming language.

The structure of the book reflects Stroustrup’s philosophy of program language design. His approach is a pragmatic one; he believes that each programming paradigm has its place, and that to put the programmer in an ideological straitjacket--such as object-oriented or functional--is nonsense. The early examples use strings before introducing objects and the vector before templates. Though I prefer this pragmatic approach, I imagine purists will prefer a book that takes an objects-only approach or a concepts-first approach.

The book is not so much about learning C++ as it is about learning how to program and using C++ as the tool. The first time I read the book, I found it rather haphazard in its treatment of topics. On second reading, however, I realized that it really is a book on programming that uses C++ as the teaching tool. As soon as I realized this, the book’s layout and examples made a lot more sense.

The book is dense and colorful. Sections have color gradients, and color is used to delineate code and various sections, such as examples and exercises. On the whole, while the color is useful, it is occasionally jarring. For example, in the section on graphical user interfaces (GUIs), the word widget is in blue, but the word widgets has a brown “s” appended to the end.

The book covers most of the traditional areas of programming, including sections on graphics, GUIs, and regular expressions. In addition, it has sections on programming languages (including an extended section on C), people who have shaped programming, and good programming practices.

Some areas are obviously covered in more depth than others, but nothing is obviously missing from the coverage. In particular, generics and object-oriented programming receive generous coverage.

As an experienced C++ programmer, it is hard for me to assess how a novice programmer will find this book; however, if I had come across such a book as a student, I would have been delighted. Any intelligent person who wants to learn C++ will find this book a very useful and lasting resource. Furthermore, it is a wise choice as a textbook for a first course on programming.

There is no single C++ book that teaches everything. However, this book will take readers on a journey and it will be quite a while before they need to buy another book on C++ (and that book will be a reference book).

In conclusion, any instructor will be well served by this textbook, with its ample examples and exercises. Also, a bright novice or someone who knows another programming language and wants to learn C++ will get a lot of mileage out of this book.