Elysian Shadows

Alright i want to learn C++ as it gives you the power i want to do whatever i want, and is so useful for learning other languages. The problem is, i do not know where to start. I am a decent Unity Script (Javascript) programmer, though im sure if any REAL programmer saw my code they would chew me out and delete it, but i can get most things down using it. I also do not understand C# all that well. So which book should i get to get me from where i am at to intermediate at least. And maybe from intermediate to beyond.

Also, i know i can learn this stuff online for free but i like to have the book in hand so i can mark it up and make notes in it, not to mention i just like to be able to read it when i am at school or on the bus. This is not to say you can't point me in the direction of some really helpful sites or videos to learn it if you know of any.

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read all this, and double thanks to anyone who helps me out!

I've never bought a book on C++ except for required college texts, most of which I never even opened. I learned through trial and error. Started out with a scripting language and a great forum community (long before this one became popular), and experimented with other people's examples. When I got stuck I would ask for help with whatever idea I was currently working with. Get an IDE / compiler set up, find a hello world example, and go from there. I'm sure others can be a bit more helpful with resources in text.

everyone has their way of learning, my buddy laughs at me when i buy books because he says the same info is free on the web, but i just concentrate better reading from a book and prefer it, not to mention i think it is presented much better. I still have my Sam's teach yourself c++ in 30 days and refer to it more than you would think. I would start there(or an equivalent teach yourself c++), it starts at the absolute beginning and covers a ton, plus its only like 25-35 bucks. here is the latest version

http://www.amazon.com/Sams-Teach-Yourse ... 762&sr=8-1

I learned from http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/ ... it's quite a useful site!

I made a mistake, I only have one book which is "C for dummies" by dan gookin and this meant due to everything on the internet being thrown together quickly and not designed with a object oriented manor then to this day I still code things C-styled. ( so I didn't really get exposed to C++ until much later )

[opinion]
My opinion ( no bitching ) would be to get a book instead of listening to people say "learn from the internet" because it may get you into bad habbits as I did.

As for "what book" to be honest I don't think it matters too much since they make it a lot easier to understand than any tutorial would, I'm currently learning C# from the cheapest book I could get from ebay and it breaks things down for you really well so it shows that you don't have to go get like a £300 book for it to be good.

If your not wanting to be a C++ guru and just want to start getting familiar with the launguage in general then I'd say internet tutorials should be good.
[/opinion]

My opinion is that books are good for learning the initial parts of it, but later on internet tutorials are by far adequate for learning.

I learnt using Sam's Teach Yourself C++ In 21 Days, with no prior programming experience, and I found it simple to understand (for a programming book). i suggest getting a book, but going through it slowly and exploring what you have just learn to familiarise yourself with all the small details. If you rush throught the book, just doing the exercises from the book without separate attempts at making programs by yourself, you will not learn as well as you can and will forget a lot of things soon after reading. Also, with more complex areas such as pointers and references, which are often confusing at first, I would advise briefly going over them and not worrying too much if you do not understand at first, as a good understanding of pointers normally comes later when you really need them.

thejahooli wrote:My opinion is that books are good for learning the initial parts of it, but later on internet tutorials are by far adequate for learning.

I learnt using Sam's Teach Yourself C++ In 21 Days, with no prior programming experience, and I found it simple to understand (for a programming book). i suggest getting a book, but going through it slowly and exploring what you have just learn to familiarise yourself with all the small details. If you rush throught the book, just doing the exercises from the book without separate attempts at making programs by yourself, you will not learn as well as you can and will forget a lot of things soon after reading. Also, with more complex areas such as pointers and references, which are often confusing at first, I would advise briefly going over them and not worrying too much if you do not understand at first, as a good understanding of pointers normally comes later when you really need them.

I think you'll actually find that, once you understand programming itself, you will use documentation in order to use new libraries, and for concepts you will, once again, get books. Books are very useful for learning and illustrating concepts that are difficult to understand otherwise.

Ginto8 wrote:

thejahooli wrote:My opinion is that books are good for learning the initial parts of it, but later on internet tutorials are by far adequate for learning.

Ditto this. Also, Effective C++ 3rd ed has been a joy to read, and it is really good. I've learned a lot from it, when to use private vs public inheritance, why making all functions in a class member functions is not always the best idea, how to best use the STL, etc... It's a really good book, containing 55 specific ways to improve that is easy to read.

Personally I would recommend anyone buy "C++ Primer Plus" by Stephen Prata. It covers a range of subjects, is easy to understand, and well worth the money you pay.

You'll learn beginning concepts as well as some more advanced concepts. Great read.

I learned from "Beginning C++ Game Programming" (It sounds like crap, but the author really makes sure you understand each concept, so it worked for me!), more than anything I experimented a lot and used the internet. cplusplus.com is a great site, also I google anything at all that I don't entirely understand.

Here's a batch of books that I somewhat used:
C++ Primer (4th edition)
C++ for Dummies (5th edition)
C++ Journal - Stroustrup's Guide To Learning C++