This book, in the words of the authors, "teaches students first how to write good functions, and then how to implement them in classes." Designed for students with no prior programming experience, the book explains each basic principle of programming first in general, language-independent terms, and then discusses how the programming construct in question is implemented in C++. Given this approach, classes are presented in the second half of the text. The book incorporates coverage of software engineering principles and procedures throughout (starting with flowcharts), with each chapter concluding with a discussion of underlying software engineering concepts. Unlike competing books that are too difficult for first-year students, Forouzan and Gilberg take special pains to make their programming examples consistent and easy to read. This careful writing makes this book a solid choice for professors looking for a book that is easy to read and follow, without compromising the material's rigor.