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Title: Mike and Phani's Essential C++ Techniques : by Michael Hyman, Phani Vaddadi ISBN: 1-893115-04-6 Publisher: APress Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3.33 (3 reviews)

Rating: 3
Summary: So-so guide, especially considering the competition
Comment: I worked with C for 4 years and now with OO development in C++ for a year. I own a few books that are much better than this one. This book is just not very good at listing and explaining the Essential C++ Techniques. It's a long story why, so I'll make it short by simply suggesting better books.

Intro C++ books: "Accelerated C++", "Essential C++", "C++: The Core Language"

Programming books: "Practice of Programming"

Rating: 5
Summary: An invaluable "how to" reference for C++ users
Comment: Mike And Phani's Essential C++ Techniques covers basic programming concepts such as the use of classes, code optimization, and dealing with pointers. It goes on to provide sample code used to illustrate the techniques explained such as the code for manipulating strings, performing regular expression matches, and handling dynamic arrays. An accompany CD-ROM also provides sample code for many of the techniques covered. Mike And Phani's Essential C++ Techniques help assist software developers of all skill levels to avoid common programming development taps and write better, faster, more error-free and more elegant programs. Highly recommended for all C++ users.

Rating: 2
Summary: OK, but not the best
Comment: My two big gripes about this book are the subject matter and the code examples.

Subject matter:

You would find this book useful if you already knew the basics of C++ fairly well, had a few years of experience, and you were looking for advanced tips and tricks, or perhaps an alternate discussion of common techniques ... but if you were truly looking for ESSENTIAL techniques, a superior book is "C++ FAQs" (well worth the money), followed by "Effective C++". And if you were looking for a good, short book on C++ essentials, try Lippman's "Essential C++".

If you want to flesh out your knowledge of general programming practices, I highly recommend "The Pragmatic Programmer", "The Practice of Programming" or "Writing Solid Code".

Code:

I don't understand why this book includes a CD of the code printed within the book. I don't see how running the code would provide any information that you wouldn't receive from reading the book, and ... if there were any benefit of running the code, the code should have been placed on a web site for free access to book owners, instead of inflating the cost of the book by several bucks for the physical medium of the CD. I don't like paying for something I don't need.

And speaking of code, the examples should have been edited and formatted for understandability. There is a poor use of white space ... and why did they use real variables such as "m_rgdw" when the examples would have been much more understandable with common metasyntatic variables such as "foo"?

Summary: an OK book, with a few tips that you won't find elsewhere, and a fairly likeable reading style ... but the code examples needed editing (don't use production code for training examples!) and the book's cost is high (probably due to the useless CD). Not a book for a beginner, and certainly there are other books that are more essential for beginning to intermediate programmers ... but good advice for serious programmers who want a different perspective on common situations or who want to finesse their art.