The stated goal of the authors of this book is to provide the reader with knowledge “about how to program using C++. We discuss the details of how to use C++ features, as well as how to apply paradigms in design and implementation.” They do succeed in presenting the new features of C++ and their main uses, but do not always treat programming paradigms with the required detail.

The authors begin the book running through the basic C++ features “inherited” from C. The reader should have a strong grasp of that language. Chapters 2–5 are the sections of the book I most enjoyed. In this part, the authors examine the functional decomposition and structured programming and design paradigms too briefly. The exposition of data abstraction is better and more detailed, however. Also, the new C++ features (parameter passing by reference, scope of names, default arguments, C++ classes, overloading, constructors, destructors, protection, and conversion) are presented well using a lot of examples. A special mention has to be made of chapter 5, which deals with inheritance. This new feature is clearly explained, as are some of its possible applications.

Chapters 6, 7, and 8 cover the object-oriented design (OOD) paradigm, memory management features of C++, and libraries, respectively. The OOD paradigm is treated incompletely--a discussion about OOD must say something about internal cohesion and coupling. The author address memory management features of C++ less clearly than they handle the other material in the book. They give several hints about how to design libraries, but these are more a set of heuristics than a compact theory. Important matters related to libraries, like library management and organization, are missing.

The authors have a terse writing style that could make the reading difficult at times if there were not enough examples. This style is necessary to present so much information in such a short space. Maybe the book needs 50 or 70 more pages to address the last three subjects in more depth. The authors include an interesting set of exercises at the end of each chapter, which may help students think about the concepts. Some of the most significant exercises are solved in the appendix.

Finally, the book lacks bibliographic references. They are especially important in areas not fully covered by the book, such as programming paradigms. The book is suitable for students with previous knowledge of the C programming language or for professional programmers who evolve from C to C++, but additional documentation may be needed if OOD is new to the programmer.