Thread: Books on programming C++

Did you check out the book recommendations here at cprogramming.com?

I like "Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days" by Jesse Liberty. It's clearly written and easy to understand. I don't think there is much in the book about programming concepts. He just jumps-in with the usual "Hello World" program. There are questions and exercises at the end of each chapter (day), with answers and solutions in the back. Surprisingly, I've found it to be a handy reference book too. It's an incomplete reference, but if the answer is in there it will be easy to find and understand. Some people seem to hate all of the "21 days" books, but I haven't read any specific complaints. (?)

I don't have the Deitel & Deitel book, but it seems to be recommended often. Its expensive to buy, but I think you can download it from deitel.com free! I've never read anything negative about this book!

I have the Stroutstrup book. It is difficult to understand. It seems to be written for advanced Computer Science students... I don't think he expects the reader to know anything about C++, but he seems to expect you to know a lot about programming (maybe C), and he expects you to know the jargon. It does have a lot of detail, and it's cool to have a book by Stroutstrup who "created" the C++ language.

I also have the Petzold book. It only covers the special Windows functions (which are not part of standard ANSI/ISO C++). Petzold doesn't use a lot of advanced C++, in fact he uses C. But, you have to know C++ (well, at least C) to understand how his examples work, and so that you can make your Windows programs "do something". When you're ready for Windows programming, do get this book!

[EDIT]
And, try searching the board. "Books" is a frequent topic.

I hear allot of good about the Sams Teach it yourself in 21 day books but it seems like 3 weeks straight isn't going to teach you too much.

It actually covers much more than any beginner could handle in 21 days, unless he was reading the book every waking minute and was a genious (IMO)

I would not recomend the Stroustrup book to a beginner, it is great once you have an idea about the language and want to know what goes on under the hood, but is to detailed for a starter text.

I reckon. Andrianxw is quite right. Bjarne's book is too hard for a beginner. I would rather suggest beginner like me to get hold other books cause i am having a hard time getting through this book!

I would not recomend the Stroustrup book to a beginner, it is great once you have an idea about the language and want to know what goes on under the hood, but is to detailed for a starter text.

I reckon. Andrianxw is quite right. Bjarne's book is too hard for a beginner. I would rather suggest beginner like me to get hold other books cause i am having a hard time getting through this book!