Is my C++ book outdated?

[Srdja123]

Hi,

Im thinking about learning C++ and I have this book called:" C++
programming 3:e edition" by Stephen Prata from 2001 and I was
wondering, is that book outdated? These books are kind of expensive so
will I be "misinformed" by reading this book and learning from that or
is it recommended to buy a new one?

Thx!

 

[Victor Bazarov]

Im thinking about learning C++ and I have this book called:" C++
programming 3:e edition" by Stephen Prata from 2001 and I was
wondering, is that book outdated? These books are kind of expensive so
will I be "misinformed" by reading this book and learning from that or
is it recommended to buy a new one?

I don't know of a book from Stephen Prata by that title. Are you
sure you're quoting the title correctly? I know *of* "C Primer Plus"
and "C++ Primer Plus" books from him but I don't know how good the
books are (although "C Primer Plus" is "recommended" on ACCU.org).

V

 

[Srdja123]

I don't know of a book from Stephen Prata by that title. Are you
sure you're quoting the title correctly? I know *of* "C Primer Plus"
and "C++ Primer Plus" books from him but I don't know how good the
books are (although "C Primer Plus" is "recommended" on ACCU.org).

V

Sorry, perhaps it's not called that way in english, here is a link to
the book I am talking about:

http://www.bokrecension.se/9163605821

The link is on swedish.

 

[Mike Wahler]

Hi,

Im thinking about learning C++ and I have this book called:" C++
programming 3:e edition" by Stephen Prata from 2001

I've never heard of (and can't find a reference to) a book of
that title by Mr. Prata. However, if you're referring to
his "C++ Primer Plus", see

http://www.accu.org/index.php/book_reviews?url=view.xqy?review=cp003131&term=prata
(this link doesn't indicate which edition)

http://www.accu.org/index.php/book_reviews?url=view.xqy?review=cp003131&term=prata
(this link addresses the 4th edition).

and I was
wondering, is that book outdated? These books are kind of expensive so
will I be "misinformed" by reading this book and learning from that or
is it recommended to buy a new one?

One of the most recommended (in this newsgroup) books for learning
C++ is Koenig & Moo, "Accelerated C++". This book does assume
prior experience in another language. For the novice to programming,
many recommend Francis Glassborow, "You Can Do It".

Finally, I recommend you don't limit yourself to a single text.

-Mike

 

[Srdja123]

I've never heard of (and can't find a reference to) a book of
that title by Mr. Prata. However, if you're referring to
his "C++ Primer Plus", see

http://www.accu.org/index.php/book_reviews?url=view.xqy?review=cp0031...
(this link doesn't indicate which edition)

http://www.accu.org/index.php/book_reviews?url=view.xqy?review=cp0031...
(this link addresses the 4th edition).


One of the most recommended (in this newsgroup) books for learning
C++ is Koenig & Moo, "Accelerated C++". This book does assume
prior experience in another language. For the novice to programming,
many recommend Francis Glassborow, "You Can Do It".

Finally, I recommend you don't limit yourself to a single text.

-Mike

The idea is not to limit myself to a singe text, I want to start
somewhere and I was just wondering if it would be bad to read an
"outdated book"?

 

[Mike Wahler]

Sorry, perhaps it's not called that way in english, here is a link to
the book I am talking about:

http://www.bokrecension.se/9163605821

The link is on swedish.

I looked at the link. I don't understand Swedish, but the
picture on the cover is identical to the U.S. book
"C++ Primer Plus", 3rd edition. I'm guessing it's the same
book.

-Mike

 

[Victor Bazarov]

Sorry, perhaps it's not called that way in english, here is a link to
the book I am talking about:

http://www.bokrecension.se/9163605821

The link is on swedish.

That looks like the translation of "C++ Primer Plus", 3rd edition,
at least the cover looks very similar.

http://www.amazon.com/Waite-Groups-...=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199735105&sr=8-8

If so, yes, it's outdated. I'd try to get the 5th (latest) edition
in English (unless somebody already translated it to Swedish, if it
is the language you prefer).

V

 

[Srdja123]

That looks like the translation of "C++ Primer Plus", 3rd edition,
at least the cover looks very similar.

http://www.amazon.com/Waite-Groups-Primer-Plus-Group/dp/1571691626/re...

If so, yes, it's outdated. I'd try to get the 5th (latest) edition
in English (unless somebody already translated it to Swedish, if it
is the language you prefer).

V

Oh okey, thanks a lot then!

 

[Victor Bazarov]

[..]
Finally, I recommend you don't limit yourself to a single text.

-Mike

The idea is not to limit myself to a singe text, I want to start
somewhere and I was just wondering if it would be bad to read an
"outdated book"?

It might be OK if you know it's a bit outdated. The "primer"
series deal with very basic things that don't really change much
over the years. If you can get it very inexpensively, do get it
just so you can start. If you have to choose what to get, I'd
probably turn my sights to something more up to date.

V

 

[Mike Wahler]

The idea is not to limit myself to a singe text, I want to start
somewhere and I was just wondering if it would be bad to read an
"outdated book"?

It is getting a bit old, but I don't consider that as significant
as the fact the the reviews I've read about it are not favorable.
And I do own a copy of the 3rd edition. I'm not impressed, and
regret spending the money on it.

My favorites are (in no particular order):

Stroustrup, "The C++ Programming Language"
Koenig & Moo, "Accelerated C++".
Josuttis, "Object Oriented Programming in C++".

While not about the language, but about the C++ standard library,
I find indispensable, Josuttis, "The C++ Standard Library".

I do have many other C++ books, but the above I find the
most generally useful.

-Mike

 

[Srdja123]

[..]
Finally, I recommend you don't limit yourself to a single text.
-Mike

The idea is not to limit myself to a singe text, I want to start
somewhere and I was just wondering if it would be bad to read an
"outdated book"?

It might be OK if you know it's a bit outdated. The "primer"
series deal with very basic things that don't really change much
over the years. If you can get it very inexpensively, do get it
just so you can start. If you have to choose what to get, I'd
probably turn my sights to something more up to date.

V

Now Im thinking about to buy the 5:e edition, but the thing is I now
see that it has been written in 2005.. Oh well, Ill buy it anway..

Thx for all the tips everyone!

 

[James Kanze]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:
That looks like the translation of "C++ Primer Plus", 3rd edition,
at least the cover looks very similar.

If so, yes, it's outdated. I'd try to get the 5th (latest)
edition in English (unless somebody already translated it to
Swedish, if it is the language you prefer).

Be very careful about translations. At least in France (and
from what I remember of Germany), the translations are generally
done by someone who doesn't know the subject matter that well,
and results are often misleading.

For better or for worse, if you're going to work in computer
science, and keep yourself up to date, you're going to have to
learn to read English fluently.

(I wonder if the same thing holds in reverse. I've recently
read a really excellent book by Haralambous about Unicode. I
read the original, in French; I wonder if the English
translation will suffer from the problems we usually see in
French translations from English.)

 

[Pete Becker]

Be very careful about translations. At least in France (and
from what I remember of Germany), the translations are generally
done by someone who doesn't know the subject matter that well,
and results are often misleading.

On the other hand, when my book was translated into Chinese, the
translator asked perceptive questions, and found a couple of errors.

 

[Erik Wikström]

[..]
Finally, I recommend you don't limit yourself to a single text.

-Mike

The idea is not to limit myself to a singe text, I want to start
somewhere and I was just wondering if it would be bad to read an
"outdated book"?

It might be OK if you know it's a bit outdated. The "primer"
series deal with very basic things that don't really change much
over the years. If you can get it very inexpensively, do get it
just so you can start. If you have to choose what to get, I'd
probably turn my sights to something more up to date.

Please do not quote signatures.

Now Im thinking about to buy the 5:e edition, but the thing is I now
see that it has been written in 2005.. Oh well, Ill buy it anway..

2005 is good, the latest version of the C++ standard is from 2003 and I
do not think any major breakthroughs have been made in the way we use
C++ since then.

 

[James Kanze]

On 2008-01-08 05:38:37 -0500, James Kanze <[email protected]> said:

On the other hand, when my book was translated into Chinese, the
translator asked perceptive questions, and found a couple of errors.

That can happen as well. Judging from the quality of the
translations in French that I've seen, however, it's rather an
exception.

FWIW: technical translation is typically paid on a fixed rate
basis, so much a word, or perhaps an established price for the
entire book. And it isn't very well paid---a technical
translator has to translate a lot to earn a decent income. Most
of the people doing technical translations are competent enough
that they could understand the text, if they took the time to
study it in detail (and for more advanced texts, like yours,
probably to learn C++ first). The problem is that if they took
that time, they'd no longer make enough to pay the rent.

In some cases, the editor will employ a competent C++
programmer, rather than a translator, to do the translation.
(In many countries, for example, university professors make
little enough that they don't mind augmenting their income on
the side.) This is probably preferable, although I've met more
than a few "C++ experts" in France whose writing skills in
French weren't all that good.

Many authors are concerned about the quality of the translations
of their works as well---I know that Stroustrup pays close
attention to this. If they know the target language well
enough, they will verify the translation, and the results should
be OK. I can't judge myself, but I'm willing to bet that the
translations of Stroustrup into Danish are excellent.