The author of this book does not know the C++ language. He makes every typical mistake a book could make -- main returning void, use of pre-standard headers, fails to mention namespaces except as an annoyance present in some new compilers. This might be more understandable if the book was written before the C++ Standard was published in 1998, but in 2001 this is no way to be teaching C++.By presenting this book as a friendlier introduction to C++ (the author goes so far as to call it perfect), it's likely to appeal to people who won't be aware of how badly they are being taught C++. ...Advanced C++ users won't be fooled by the author's hype...