Sams Teach Yourself Beginning Programming in 24 Hours

I decided that I wanted to program...and I wanted to program in C++ no less!I wanted a specific program designed and produced and was going to write it myself. Colleagues of mine had done the same using visual Basic, why not I?My wife is an MCSE and a programmer in C++ among other languages.. She suggested this book after looking through it at a bookshop. She said that there was more to programming than just writing a program...it was necessary to understand certain basic concepts first..concepts like program design, coding, maintenance etc. I was enthused with all the Programming in " 24hrs, 21 days..etc" books that I had bought. They just jumped right in and I followed,did as I was told and there it was ...My first program in C++..it didn't do much but "Hello World" did look good on the Win 2000 screen. My wife smiled...do you understand what you did, how you got there she asked? Can you write a proper program?[Proper? It works]I thought but I admitted that I didn't and couldn't. I had copied code, run it on a compiler and the program appeared. Hmm...maybe there was more to it than this..I decided to give this book a go even though I wanted to write programs NOW! SO I reluctantly took it up...WHAT no CD? Didn't look good...I stated reading.I couldn't stop..there WAS more to programming than copying and pasting code in from a book or CD..The author discussed code design, coding, logic , program design, maintenace, distribution, managemnet, company functions different languages, BASIC, QBASICI approched my C++ books differently now. What I know is that this book is a MUST for every beginner Programmer. Temper your enthusiasm and learn good practices and a basic foundation here first THEN go learn what ever language that you want.An excellent book, easy to read, logically set out. I went to the computer once to try out the qbasic compiler . It worked as expected. Rest assured you need to understand basic general concepts first..then your programming will be logical, clean, well documented and without 'spaghetti code'.

I tried to learn programming through books like "Beginning Java 2", but found the concepts too advanced and intimidating. This book provides the perfect amount of information for anyone interested in learning their first programming language. The author first explains how computers work, how programs interact with hardware, how to design a program, and gives an overview of programming languages. The author then teaches you how to program using QBasic - an ancestor of Visual Basic. Through QBasic, all of the mysteries of programming are explained, providing the reader with a great start to learning any other programming language, especially Visual Basic. The final chapters explain object oriented programming, and explain the differences between Visual Basic, C, C++, and Java. This is a great book.

Do you want to know the basics of programming? Do you want to get a broad general overview of some of the languages available and how they work? To use this book you DO NOT need to have ANY prior programming knowledge at all. The editor QBasic is used for your working environment and can be found on your 95 or 98 CD in the folder called tools/oldmsdos - explained on pg.146Perry does a great job of giving enough background information to explain why the programming languages look and act the way they do, and explains the concept of object-oriented programming well. He tells you how to program (a structured approach) as well as some of the fundamentals and differences of other programming languages such as: C, C++, Visual Basic, Java, RPG, FORTRAN and others not so popular today.All the commands and concepts are followed by examples that you can type in your editor and run (and they do run). In comparison to the many errors found in so many of today's IT instructional books, this book has very few. As a side note: There is one drawback for those who like to just copy the programming code from a disk into their editors and then run it to see how it works. It is not provided free. You have to purchase the code from the author or just type it in by hand. But, he also sends you a set of Tutorial Example Programs with the books code. I did not purchase them so I can't comment on them. But why would you want to do that when you are just starting out in programming and need the Hands - On experience?All in all, I received a good understanding of the many concepts taught in a very clearly explained manner.I have reviewed many books and recommend that you Buy this book!! Enjoy it. I know you will. Then move on to your Language of choice. Wishing you the best in your future of programming.

If you've been "dabbling" in programming, even reading a few books on various languages, this book is still pretty informative. Although the book starts VERY rudimentary (the first chapter seems to labor on the point that computers can't possibly take over the world) it quickly steps the reader through the history of programming and key programming concepts. The chapters on program design, program process, and program algorithms are invaluable and not found books that focus on programming languages (instead of programming style). Perry does a great job of giving enough background information to explain why the programming languages look and act the way they do, and explains the concept of object-oriented programming better than anything else I've read. On the down side, there is a definite bias toward microsoft, and the internet chapter could be expanded and updated to be truly useful. If you're new to programming or looking to fill in a few basic gaps, this book is an excellent resource.

I needed to start somewhere and this book sure has helped. From the beginnings of programming to actually creating your own this book covers it all. It also helps you decided which avenue you may what to take in regards to a language of choice. The only programming I remember was back in High School with BASIC. It was really neat to relive those days with this book. I recommended this book highly, though it does have a few typos. (These are easily spotted, though). Well worth the money. If you don't know where to start, this is the book to start with.