cline@cheetah.ece.clarkson.edu (Marshall Cline) (05/10/90)
Brian Donat (article <4143@infmx.UUCP> briand@infmx.UUCP) recently posted his opinions of several OOP/C++ books. Brian freely admitted he was a beginner to the subject. George W. Leach (article <1990May8.185818.9259@pdn.paradyne.com> reggie@dinsdale.paradyne.com) corrected (rather gave alternate views of) numerous points from Brian's posting, but then George elected to close with a personal flame which was entirely (IMHO) uncalled for. Brian Donat: >And that's the experience of one person who has recently >learned both OOP and C++. George Leach replies: > Somehow, I doubt you have learned either yet. Andrew Koenig has recently stated that the number of C++ users doubles every 9 months. This exponential growth means that a half the world's C++ users have less than 9 mos experience, which implies a *tremendous* need for education. I am saddened by George Leach's nasty remark. If we desire to see OOP succeed, we have a responsibility to the neophyte to ensure their questions are courteously answered. It is appropriate to correct misinformation, but it is entirely inappropriate to make a beginner feel they should never post to comp.lang.c++ again. No one likes answering `Are there any good C++ books out there?' for the 17 thousanth time, but someone's got to help educate those who are starting, just as someone helped each of us. I say that we should treat newcommers with respect and dignity. Bashing them in the head, even if they were wrong, won't help in the long haul. Marshall Cline -- =============================================================================== Marshall Cline/ECE Department/Clarkson University/Potsdam NY 13676/315-268-3868 cline@sun.soe.clarkson.edu, bitnet: BH0W@CLUTX, uunet!clutx.clarkson.edu!bh0w Career search in progress: ECE faculty. Research oriented. Will send vita. ===============================================================================