Thread: which IDE and tuts

  1. 07-02-2007 #1
    avgprogamerjoe
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    which IDE and tuts

    Hey guys i have just started off with programing, and i am planing on giving C++ a shot. I'm not really all that experienced, I've only had a comp since december. lol
    Anyways what my question is to you is
    I have a book, its called sams teach yourself C++ in 24 hours. Now i don't expect to learn c++ in 24 hours, or even a week(other than basic syntax), this was just the only book at the book store and my parents won't let me use credit cards to buy books online.
    Now the book is copyright 2005 and comes with an IDE called Borland:c++ builderX.
    Could it be using a later version of c++? Should I use the book, and also should the borland IDE? I don't want to teach myself bad habits.

    Thanks,


    Joe
  2. 07-02-2007 #2
    dwks
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    When you're just learning basic C++, the compiler or IDE probably doesn't really matter.

    Borland C++ BuilderX seems to be from 2003, so it's not that old.

    If you wanted to try some different IDEs, download Dev-C++ (which is a bit old, but it works) or Code::Blocks, which is newer. There are other compilers around, too. Just search if you want to get one.

    Also, as far as I know, that book's okay. It's not the best one I've seen, but it's not bad. You can check out the C++ Book Recommendations thread -- I'm sure some people have commented on it.
    dwk

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  3. 07-02-2007 #3
    robwhit
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    there are different compilers for C++, Borland makes some of them. It would suit you just fine, I would expect. Using an IDE is fine, but familiarize yourself with the command line tools that are almost certainly included with it.

    this site has some tutorials, and there are some free books online (quick link)
    http://cboard.cprogramming.com/showthread.php?t=74078

    I haven't used Sam's though, so I don't know if it's good or not.
  4. 07-03-2007 #4
    Mr Fancy
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    I've been going through a few tutorials to teach myself c++ and even with basic programming experience (in java) some of them were really hard to follow. My recommendation is 'c++ ripped apart':
    http://www.warebizprogramming.com/tutorials/cpp/toc.htm
  5. 07-03-2007 #5
    pheres
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    what plattform (operating system) are you using?

    if you are interested in building software what not only runs in MS windows (and good programmers are) than I recommend
    the new eclipse / cdt 4 as IDE
    http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/dow...nux-gtk.tar.gz

    together with the minGW toolschain as compiler
    http://www.mingw.org/

    all for free

    there are a lot of miserable tutorials out there, often mixing old C stuff together with some C++.
    As an absolute minimum try to get effective c++ from scott meyers (3rd edition). It can save you a LOT of trouble with the pitfalls inherent to c++
  6. 07-03-2007 #6
    Mario F.
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    I beg to differ

    If you are interested in building software what not only runs in MS windows (and good programmers are)
    Good programmers build good software. Good software doesn't need to be portable to be good. Portability may or may not be a requirement. If it is, good programmers build good software that is also portable. If it is not, good programmers will not think any less of themselves for building software that is not portable.

    As an absolute minimum try to get effective c++ from scott meyers (3rd edition)
    There's heaps of book suggestions on the top thread of this forum. But Meyers' Effective or More Effective books aren't, in my humble opinion, good books for the absolute beginner. These books concentrate on good practices but assume some knowledge on the part of the reader. The reader is not meant to learn how to code C++ from them.

    They absolutely essential once the language is learned up to a point where the reader can code their own small programs. But until then, two books are probably more essential. "Accelerated C++ Practical Programming by Example" and "C++ Primer 4th Edition". The latter being my favorite.

    They teach the language and dabble in good coding practices so that Meyers', when later read, won't look so alien.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
  7. 07-04-2007 #7
    pheres
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    If I have the choice how to solve a programming problem I would always try to solve it in a portable way, requirement ore not. because the day might come I have to solve the same or a similar problem and instead reinventing the wheel I just scratch the thing out of some old repository and paste it and can go drinking coffee while watching the unit tests run

    meyers was my first book on c++ and I doesn't understand much from the first reading. but I just looked the net till I got what he's talking about. You are right, that wasn't very convenient but it was stirring and demanding. Later I got some 900 pages block with voluptuous descriptions to every little thing and I fell to sleep on page 3.
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