You know Borland C++ 2.0 bundle comes with a C++ compiler, an assembler for machine language, a debugger for looking at machine codes, and also a profiler for looking at bottlenecks in performances in eleven 3.5-inch diskettes plus thousands of pages of notes on how to use them all. I have to say Borland is one of the easiest manuals to follow however you have to put in a tremendous amount of work in learning efforts. I remember reading another Borland manuals years ago and I spent hours a day sponging up the materials. However you have to put in the efforts too. You can't just read and have it sink in. You have to actually sit down by your computer and try out the examples. Reading through one of the chapters makes me fall asleep. However when I try to accomplish a task it makes time goes by so much faster. One problem took 5 hours yet seems like it was just minutes ago. Learning how to compile and actually make it work is the hardest part. However one thing I have against Borland is that it doesn't have a supplementing Windows section. Apparently Borland likes to just show that it can program in Microsoft Windows however the resources for that are from Microsoft. So to avoid copyright infringement Borland doesn't step over their boundaries. All and all I'd give it 100% for C++ material. However Windows materials is better left for Microsoft documentations elsewhere. It just contains the barest minimum to show it is possible to produce a 32-bit Windows program however it doesn't go into detail and explicitly states you need information from Microsoft to do the Windows programming. For instance all the Headers and such are proprietary to Microsoft when concerning Windows programming. It only touches briefly and shows 1 brief example. A fun trivia is that if I vaguely recall correctly the originator of C++ was quotes in one of the thick books. I remember he says something along the fact of modules or something rather and joking how much he thinks C++ is better.
Now on the 16-bit side. It allows backward compatibility with MS-DOS architeture. You can do assembly language along side C++. It also allows backwards compatibility to many instances with C too. So Borland C++ 2.0 "bundle" if you can find it is worth the money.
