Tom K. Moore writes:
> sorry for the offtopicality here, but i could use some advice about CS 315
> (downing) this semester. actually, the advice is a bit more general than
> just a class.
Downing is a great prof. His CS315 class is the best CS class that I
have taken so far. One little bit of warning: the class is NOT
designed to 'teach you C++.' He's going to teach you about object
programming and abstract data types; if you don't already know basic
C/C++ syntax you're going to have to learn as you go, either on your
own or in study groups. Hence, the recommendation of the primer.
Personally, I was already familiar with basic C syntax and most C++
basic, hence I did not get the primer. I heard other people found it
useful. I did get Stroustroup's book, and refered to it many times.
Sometimes his book was a little MORE information than I needed, but I
did manage to find it useful and complete the class with an A.
> Programming & Problem Solving with C++, 2nd ed., by Dale, Weems, & Headington
Never seen this one before, couldn't say anything about it.
> i'd love to keep all three but sometimes finances interfere with my
> preferences, eh? at first blush, i'm leaning toward the last title because
> its cover proclaims that it was written by "the creator of C++" but that
> leaning may change as the weekend progresses and i actually start cracking
> them.
If you know C for the most part, and you're familiar with the basic
ideas of C++, then go ahead and skip the primer and get Stroustroup's
book. You'll use it later outside of CS315 as well. If you're not
quite at such a comfortable level with C/C++, get the primer and give
Stroustroup a miss. There's nothing in stroustroup that's not in the
primer *that you need to complete CS315.* Of course, if you feel you
can afford it, get both.
BTW, since you're posting to siglinux; while MSVC++ and Codewarrior
for the Mac were the 'official' compilers for the class, my TA
happened to be a linux guy and I did all my projects with EGCS (and
turned them in as such) without any problems. You will be using
templates a lot, so you'll need a compatible compiler. Some older
versions of egcs had problems with that.
just some humble advice,
good luck,
---Preston
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