getch( ) is a cool function.. however, it is not good practice. It is part of the non-standard <conio.h> library.. which makes it non-standard and non-portable.
But if you are not worried about portability or compliance with C++ ISO standards, then getch( ) is quick and easy and it's pretty cool. Mainly because it saves you the trouble of trying to come up with your own version of getch( ) which would be wicked hard.