Beginning users of C, C++, and assembly language will find this book useful, as will readers familiar with other languages and with the IBM PC or compatible computers. Reading all the technical manuals is cumbersome. This book offers a practical, time-saving way to quickly learn and work with Borland C++.

The book is aimed at advanced programmers who are not familiar with object-oriented programming, Windows capabilities, or assembly language on the IBM PC and compatibles. It is not aimed at advanced programmers who want to enter deeply into C++ and assembly language programming. For example, it does not treat hardware specifics and operating system details like task-resident programming.

This book offers a general overview of C, and is useful for beginners who want to know the basics. Reading the book will enable programmers to build good programs quickly. The many complete, richly commented programs in the book perform various tasks. The authors give good advice on how to build efficient programs, and describe many traps and pitfalls that program developers may encounter. They also offer a diskette containing the programs in the book, for a reasonable price.

The book has 25 chapters, three appendices, and an index. Chapter 1 gives advice about the installation of Borland C++ and using the Borland manuals. Chapter2 explains in an attractive manner how to use many of the time-saving development features incorporated in the programming environment: the main window, the main menu, the help facilities, and editing. Chapter 3 gives a quick start with the assembler. Chapter 4 explains how to use the debugger and the profiler.

From chapter 5 through chapter 15, the authors describe the history of C, the evolution of C++, and object-oriented programming. They then briefly focus on the main points of C. They take a close look at data, control structures, functions, arrays, pointers, input and output, structures, unions, classes, C and C++ libraries, system resources, and graphics. For all the aspects enumerated, the authors first present the C implementation and then give the C++ improvements. They include short, detailed programs, sometimes illustrated with debugger tools.

Chapters 17 to 20 describe assembly language for the Intel family of microprocessors (8086 through 80486). Macros, procedures, macrolibraries, object module libraries, characters, strings, and files, as well as how to bind assembly language code to C and C++ programs, are also described. Chapter 21 is an introduction to object-oriented programming. It begins with definitions and terminology, including encapsulation, class hierarchy, inheritance, polymorphism, and virtual functions. An object-oriented linked-list program is then developed, and debugger and profiler information is given.

Chapters 22 to 25 are dedicated to Windows applications. The authors first introduce Windows features such as built-in routines, the standardized user interface, multitasking, memory management, queued input, messages, device independence, dynamic link libraries, direct access to the extended memory, the virtual memory, and the Windows help compiler. They also explain all the necessary steps to create a simple Windows program, the compiling and linking process, the definition file, and the resource file. Icons, cursors, menus, and dialogue boxes are treated in a separate chapter. Chapter 25 contains a complete program to create a professional-quality presentation bar chart, using the palette manager and font manipulation.

Appendix A contains a useful extended ASCII table. Appendix B presents most of the BIOS and DOS interrupt parameters. Appendix C presents an alphabetical list of some of the most frequently used Windows functions, each with its action, parameters, value returned, and notes.

It might have been useful if this work were in the usual format of a handbook. For the beginner in C++, however, it is a real friend.