Rating:  - great book
I have the 2nd edition of this book so I'm going to assume the 4th is only better. Deitel and Deitel are wonderful authors, I recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn C++.
Rating: - Quite possibly the best C++ book ever written!
Quite possibly the absolute best C++ book ever!
The book covers everything from the very simplest concepts (starting off with the standard "Hello World"-type program that explains that statements must end with semicolons, the use of curly braces, that every program starts execution at the main function, and so on) up to topics such as templates, pure virtual functions, polymorphism via base class pointers to derived classes, structured exception handling, and more.
One of the best things about this book is that it EXPLICITLY teaches you good programming practices, all the way through. Some C++ books meant for beginners try to teach you the language and don't even bother to try to teach you how to write programs correctly. Not this book. Time after time they tell you the proper method of writing code, as well as explaining why it should be done that way.
Also, the authors practice what they teach (and preach). For example, chapter "X" explains how to create templates, then when chapter "Y" creates a generic data structure, like a stack or queue, the authors do so using templates. Some other books teach you something in one chapter and then seem to forget it even exists.
Also, at least the version I have, comes with a Visual C++ 6.0 compiler (its a learning edition or something, not the full version. But who would expect that anyway?).
It's a pretty hefty price compared to many other C++ books. But, not trying to sound too much like an "infomercial", this is probably the only text you will ever need for C++ programming. So you save money by buying this one text instead of buying two or three that each does only a part of what this book does.
Oh, let me clarify something. This book does a pretty comprehensive coverage of ANSI/ISO Standard C++, the subject of the book. It does not teach C++ .NET (but, the same authors do have another book for that!).
Finally, I ran across this book when tutoring someone in a college C++ programming course. So even university professors recognize the worth of the text.
Rating:  - Ivor is better
start with Wrox's beginning C by Ivor
Then go to his C++
much better than this for a beginner
Rating: - More C than C++
If you want to confuse yourself and learn C before C++ ... great! But I've taken a course (just recently) using the 3rd edition and even when Classes are finally introduced (which was 400+ pgs into the book) the chapter actually dives straight Into structures -- ch6.2 to be exact ( hence; too much C != C++ ) .... so If this was titled C and C++ ( no problem ) but the product misleads you by ...OOP / C++ on the cover, and the audio ( monotone ... to the point of sleepiness ...... and lack of any explanation for the more confusing points -- static casting, etc )
Buyer BEWARE!!
Rating: - Another Deitel Disaster
I have had one too many classes requiring a Deitel book... Bland, uninspiring, Deitel and Deitel try but fail repeatedly. Perhaps its time Deitel and Deitel took some programming classes themselves, or maybe a creative writing class.
Don't waste your money!
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