There is now a section on C style arrays, and the nonstandard matrix class has been replaced by 2D arrays. The linked list chapter has been completely rewritten to introduce the ANSI standard list class. The array-based list implementation has been dropped. The cover is completely different. The sales reps hated the old cover.
Strings are a concept .
Therefore I chose the string class. It is safe and convenient. Students master it quickly and can move on to learning more computing concepts. Not all compilers support these constructs yet. My recommendation is to introduce the keywords and use them initially, especially for the topics that students find confusing such as De Morgan's law.