Beginning Programming with C++ For Dummies® -- About the Author -- Dedication -- Author's Acknowledgments -- Contents at a Glance -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- About Beginning Programming with C++ For Dummies -- Foolish Assumptions -- Conventions Used in This Book -- What You Don't Have to Read -- How This Book Is Organized -- Icons Used in This Book -- Where to Go from Here -- Part I: Let's Get Started -- Chapter 1: What Is a Program? -- How Does My Son Differ from a Computer? -- Programming a "Human Computer" -- Computer Languages -- Chapter 2: Installing Code::Blocks -- Reviewing the Compilation Process -- Installing Code::Blocks -- Tes ting the Code::Blocks Installation -- Chapter 3: Writing Your First Program -- Creating a New Project -- Entering Your Program -- Building the Program -- Finding What Could Go Wrong -- Using the Enclosed CD-ROM -- Running the Program -- How the Program Works -- Part II: Writing a Program: Decisions, Decisions -- Chapter 4: Integer Expressions -- Declaring Variables -- Integer Constants -- Expressions -- Unary Operators -- The Special Assignment Operators -- Chapter 5: Character Expressions -- Defining Character Variables -- Encoding Strings of Characters -- Special Character Constants -- Chapter 6: if I Could Make My Own Decisions -- The if Statement -- What else Is There? -- Nesting if Statements -- Compound Conditional Expressions -- Chapter 7: Switching Paths -- Controlling Flow with the switch Statement -- Control Fell Through: Did I break It? -- Implementing an Example Calculator with the switch Statement -- Chapter 8: Debugging Your Programs, Part I -- Identifying Types of Errors -- Avoiding Introducing Errors -- Finding the First Error with a Little Help -- Finding the Run-Time Error -- Part III: Becoming a Functional Programmer -- Chapter 9: while Running in Circles -- Creating a while Loop.

Breaking out of the Middle of a Loop -- Nested Loops -- Chapter 10: Looping for the Fun of It -- The for Parts of Every Loop -- Looking at an Example -- Getting More Done with the Comma Operator -- Chapter 11: Functions, I Declare! -- Breaking Your Problem Down into Functions -- Understanding How Functions Are Useful -- Writing and Using a Function -- Passing Arguments to Functions -- Defining Function Prototype Declarations -- Chapter 12: Dividing Programs into Modules -- Breaking Programs Apart -- Breaking Up Isn't That Hard to Do -- Using the Standard C++ Library -- Variable Scope -- Chapter 13: Debugging Your Programs, Part 2 -- Debugging a Dys-Functional Program -- Part IV: Data Structures -- Chapter 14: Other Numerical Variable Types -- The Limitations of Integers in C++ -- A Type That "doubles" as a Real Number -- Variable Size - the "long" and "short" of It -- Types of Constants -- Passing Different Types to Functions -- Chapter 15: Arrays -- What Is an Array? -- Declaring an Array -- Indexing into an Array -- Looking at an Example -- Initializing an Array -- Chapter 16: Arrays with Character -- The ASCII-Zero Character Array -- Declaring and Initializing an ASCIIZ Array -- Looking at an Example -- Looking at a More Detailed Example -- Chapter 17: Pointing the Way to C++ Pointers -- What's a Pointer? -- Declaring a Pointer -- Passing Arguments to a Function -- Playing with Heaps of Memory -- Chapter 18: Taking a Second Look at C++ Pointers -- Pointers and Arrays -- Operations on Different Pointer Types -- Constant Nags -- Differences Between Pointers and Arrays -- My main() Arguments -- Chapter 19: Programming with Class -- Grouping Data -- The Class -- The Object -- Arrays of Objects -- Looking at an Example -- Chapter 20: Debugging Your Programs, Part 3 -- A New Approach to Debugging -- Entomology for Dummies.

Part V: Object-Oriented Programming -- Chapter 21: What Is Object-Oriented Programming? -- Abstraction and Microwave Ovens -- Classification and Microwave Ovens -- Why Build Objects This Way? -- Self-Contained Classes -- Chapter 22: Structured Play: Making Classes Do Things -- Activating Our Objects -- Creating a Member Function -- Keeping a Member Function after Class -- Overloading Member Functions -- Chapter 23: Pointers to Objects -- Pointers to Objects -- Passing Objects to Functions -- Allocating Objects off the Heap -- Chapter 24: Do Not Disturb: Protected Members -- Protecting Members -- Who Needs Friends Anyway? -- Chapter 25: Getting Objects Off to a Good Start -- The Constructor -- Destructors -- Chapter 26: Making Constructive Arguments -- Constructors with Arguments -- Overloading the Constructor -- The Default default Constructor -- Constructing Data Members -- Chapter 27: Coping with the Copy Constructor -- Copying an Object -- Creating a Copy Constructor -- Avoiding Copies -- Part VI: Advanced Strokes -- Chapter 28: Inheriting a Class -- Advantages of Inheritance -- Implementing Inheritance in C++ -- Having a HAS_A Relationship -- Chapter 29: Are Virtual Functions for Real? -- Overriding Member Functions -- When Is Virtual Not? -- Virtual Considerations -- Chapter 30: Overloading Assignment Operators -- Overloading an Operator -- Overloading the Assignment Operator Is Critical -- Looking at an Example -- Writing Your Own (or Not) -- Chapter 31: Performing Streaming I/O -- How Stream I/O Works -- Stream Input/Output -- Other Member Functions of the fstream Classes -- Manipulating Manipulators -- Using the stringstream Classes -- Chapter 32: I Take Exception! -- The Exception Mechanism -- Creating a Custom Exception Class -- Part VII: The Part of Tens -- Chapter 33: Ten Ways to Avoid Bugs -- Enable All Warnings and Error Messages.

Adopt a Clear and Consistent Coding Style -- Comment the Code While You Write It -- Single-Step Every Path in the Debugger at Least Once -- Limit the Visibility -- Keep Track of Heap Memory -- Zero Out Pointers after Deleting What They Point To -- Use Exceptions to Handle Errors -- Declare Destructors Virtual -- Provide a Copy Constructor and Overloaded Assignment Operator -- Chapter 34: Ten Features Not Covered in This Book -- The goto Command -- The Ternary Operator -- Binary Logic -- Enumerated Types -- Namespaces -- Pure Virtual Functions -- The string Class -- Multiple Inheritance -- Templates and the Standard Template Library -- The 2009 C++ Standard -- Appendix: About the CD -- System Requirements -- Using the CD -- What You'll Find on the CD -- Troubleshooting -- Customer Care -- Index.