By the end of this book, readers will have a firm understanding of C++ syntax and problem-solving skills. Its premise is the same one that successful coaches have using for centuries: the more you practice a skill, the better your mastery of that skill becomes. Concepts are presented and then practiced repeatedly in the form of drills that explore the subtleties of the syntax. These drills are supplemented with real-world examples of programming problems, from the world of business, which build upon knowledge gained from these drills. Once a set of skills is mastered, more advanced concepts are presented and practiced.This book is organized into three sections. The first section provides a basic understanding of programming constructs: variables, operators, conditional statements, loops, and functions. These constructs are used to develop programs that solve relatively simple problems. The focus is on mastery of basic C++ syntax. The second section concentrates on additional features of C++ such as arrays, structures, classes, pointers, and files. The third section discusses the benefits and implementations of some simple C++ data structures to help the reader appreciate the issues of performance when dealing with real-world problems.This is the ideal book for any beginning programmer who plans to use a computer for information acquisition and processing.

Jeff Salvage teaches both Computer Science and Information systems students in the Math and Computer Science department at Drexel University.