Introduction to C++

[DuneBug]

Can anyone recommend a good book to introduce someone to the C++ language? I'm not a very experienced programmer, and only know a little bit about programming. So I'd like a good beginners book, if anyone knows of one.

[gammaray51]

If you are looking for a good all in one book then I would recomend the dietel and ditel C++ programing book. The book does a good job of teaching and is also a good reference book. I had allready been programing when I picked this book up, so if you have never programed before in your life then you may want to try somthing else first. If you allready understand basic programing concepts then I would get this book

[Strogian]

Maybe something like "The C++ Primer" would be good for you. (I think that's what it's called)

[Zoma]

If you "only know a little bit about programming," I'd recommend learning C, first. I'm not sure which books are good, but I used to learn from SAMS "... in 21 days" books. Also, the two "C For Dummies" books are actually pretty decent, although the first one goes REALLY slowly. I used them for a refresher a while back, and I pretty much skipped the first book, but the second was a bit more helpful.

If you absolutely have to learn C++ and you can't learn C first (maybe for a job?) you may want to go with the C++ Dummies book. I've never read it, but it will probably be the slowest and assume the least about your programming knowledge (most C++ books assume that the author has either some knowledge of C or some knowledge of OOP. The first one I got did, and it confused the heck out of me ).

[DuneBug]

I've heard that it is a good idea to learn C first, so I might do that. I'm not in a hurry or anything, I'm just interested in learning C++. I've thought of going into Computer Science as a major in college (still two years away) and figured if I liked working in C++, then this was the way to go.

This past year I took a QBasic class in school (It's required in order to take C++, and Visual Basic) and I did really well in that and picked up on it really easily and quick. I know QBasic is extremely easy compared to C++, but there's so much more you can do with C++. Anyhow, thanks for the advice guys!


<Edit> One more thing to ask. Will I be fine working with regular C, in Visual C++ 6.0?

[This message has been edited by DuneBug (edited June 27, 2001).]

[DanJericho]

Will I be fine working with regular C, in Visual C++ 6.0?

Visual C++ 6.0 is a great program. It will work for both C and C++.

Also, if you want to learn a great OOP (Object Oriented Programming) language, learn Java. Java is basically the best of both C and C++. However, Java does run much slower comparatively. It is a really powerful language. I love it. But, I do suggest to learn C before you learn either C++ or Java.

[richardginn]

Originally posted by gammaray51:
If you are looking for a good all in one book then I would recomend the dietel and ditel C++ programing book. The book does a good job of teaching and is also a good reference book. I had allready been programing when I picked this book up, so if you have never programed before in your life then you may want to try somthing else first. If you allready understand basic programing concepts then I would get this book

I liked this book, I had to use it in my college classes.



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[Zoma]

If you learn C, all of your knowledge and tricks will work in C++. C++ can be looked at as C with some extra stuff. It'd be like if there were some commands in QBASIC that you didn't know about, and then you learned them. There's only one thing I can think of off the top of my head that C supports that C++ doesn't, and I'm pretty sure that standard C no longer supports this one thing.

(For any C programmers interested, I'm refering to functions using an int as the default type. Some modern C compilers don't support this.)

[DuneBug]

Have any of you used the book, "The C Programming Language," by Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie?

I've heard it's a great book for learning C, but I was just curious if any of you knew if it was good for a beginner? or if it was more geared toward a more advanced programmer?

Thanks again for all the responces!

[Strogian]

Well Dunebug, that's the book I'm using right now. =) The book does assume that you have programmed with some language before, I think. It doesn't go into too much detail, like a true beginners book would. (For example, it doesn't tell you what a variable is, just how to use them) I got this book to basically refresh my memory, since I already learned it a few years ago, and MOST of the stuff was pretty clear to me.

[DuneBug]

Well I know the basic concepts of programming (things such as variables), but not really anything in depth about those basics. It sounds like I would probably be able to understand that book by how you described it. Overall, how do you rate it? Is it a good book to learn C? Or is it more of a refresher book?