This is not an introductory programming book. This is a book about what C++ has to offer and how to best take advantage of it. It will be most useful to people that already know another language (C would make your life the easiest) and want to learn C++.

The first three chapters do a great job introducing the major facilities of C++ and how to think in C++ terms. The coverage of different programming paradigms will be useful to all developers. Also, the material on inheritance and multiple inheritance in particular, is clear and insightful.

This book is an excellent tutorial and reference. Though it is dense reading and the code examples are typically short but not inadequate. You may also have some trouble jumping around to a particular section as the examples often build from previous sections. But it is easy to backtrack to get the big picture.

Anyone writing nontrivial C++ applications should read this book.

This book is the favorite on c++.
It truly covers the language.
However, buy it just if you are not new to C++ since it is for advanced programmers.
D. Orbach
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Anyone aspiring to be a solid C++ programmer will want this book. The text appears to be thorough, and the chapters are organized such that one can find the sections she is interested in.

In reading this book, I get the impression that Stroustrup is attempting to "clone himself" in its reasoning and explanations. This is beneficial from one standpoint -- the man is clearly brilliant, and he knows his topic as very few experts do. That said, this book is not even slightly concise and might not function well as a quick introduction or a quick reference.

By "concise", look at Appendix B: Standard Library of THE C PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE, SECOND EDITION by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie. In 18 pages, these gentlemen say almost everything that needs to be said about C's standard library. There are no examples, and there is very little discussion.

The C++ standard library does immensely more than the C standard library, and the concepts are far more complex. I can't expect Stroustrup to address everything in 18 pages, yet I believe he can be a lot more "to the point" than he is in his book (or at least a portion thereof).

I also find numerous places where I question Stroustrup's advice and generalizations, but I find no fault in the fact his views and mine differ sharply in places. Anyone who understands what Stroustrup is saying will be able to agree or disagree for herself.

An immense plus for this text is its completeness. I once faced a C++ examination after having studied a Microsoft Press textbook which said it covered C++, but in fact left enormous sections on the language untouched (e.g., templates were not mentioned). My score reflected the gaps in that textbook. By contrast, an examination in C taken the same day placed my score in the top 1% of the United States -- and the only book I read was the aforementioned Kernighan & Ritchie.

If you already know some C++, and you want to REALLY know C++, and you want to do this in a single book (you'll have to read it more than once), I think that Stroustrup's is the one for you to read.

Granted, you must know syntax and programming techniques to understand this book, but once you are there, this book tells all about the background happpenings. It explains how something is done so you can be a better programmer.

With all due respect to the C++ guru, the creator, I will say that this book didn't meet my expectation. I have been programming for last ten years, mostly in C and some C++. When I bought this book I thought it would be of the class of K&R for C. However, my experience so far has been different. I had to really struggle to locate answers to my doubts. But, I should also confess that time didn't permit me reading the whole book page by page. But so what! In fact I got better and faster answers through Google. I am sure many C++ professionals will probably think otherwise about this book. Who knows may be I will start loving the book after some time!