Thread: Language REFERENCE book recommendations?

  1. #1
    Hardware Engineer
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    Language REFERENCE book recommendations?

    What REFERENCE book do you use / recommend?

    Mainly, I’m looking for a book that has ALL of the functions in the ANSI header files. I’m looking for something like the help files for MSVC++, but in printed form with a good cross-referenced index. (The help files are fine if you know exactly what you’re looking for.)

    The two “best” reference books I have are:

    Josuttis “The C++ Standard Library”
    Not a bad book, good depth in some topics and well written. But it’s hard to find what you’re looking for. And it may be incomplete too. For example, I couldn’t find strtoul() in the index. Microsoft help says strtoul() is in ANSI stdlib.h

    Stroustrup “The C++ Programming Language”
    This book seems to be written for programmers with BSCS degrees who already know C. When I look something-up it takes me a half-hour to figure-out what he’s saying… That is, if I ever “get it”. I couldn’t find strtoul() in his index either! It IS cool to own a book by the creator of C++!

    Yesterday, I ordered from Amazon:
    Ira Pohl “C++ Distilled
    (I should have posted this first.)

    I don’t have Stroustrup’s other book “The Annotated C++ Reference Manual”. Any comments on this book?

  2. #2
    Just one more wrong move. -KEN-'s Avatar
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    >>is in ANSI stdlib.h

    ::thinking:: I think that stdlib is purely ANSI-C, not C++. Correct me if I'm wrong (as I probably am; I'm more of a C man myself).

  3. #3
    Registered User Cela's Avatar
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    >>For example, I couldn’t find strtoul() in the index.
    That's because it only covers the standard template library.

    >>Microsoft help says strtoul() is in ANSI stdlib.h
    For C, yea, for C++ it's in cstdlib.

    >> I couldn’t find strtoul() in his index either!
    You're obsessed with strtoul. Get the C standard library, that one gives you more detail than you could ever want on the C based library functions, it's written by Plauger. The C++ versions of C's libraries work exactly the same. For C++ libraries Stroustrup's book should be enough.

    >>I don’t have Stroustrup’s other book “The Annotated C++ Reference Manual”. Any comments on this book?
    Out of date.
    *Cela*

  4. #4
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    try to look in this site. Probably has something of what your looking for. just go under languages or something
    http://www.maththinking.com/boat/computerbooks.html
    C++ Rules!!!!
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  5. #5
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    Thanks for shairing

  6. #6
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
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    Thanks for not reading the rules when you joined, and bumping an 8 year old thread.
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