Thread: C++ For Dummies - The Book

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    13

    C++ For Dummies - The Book

    Any good for a beginner looking to learn C++ with no past programming experience? Thanks!

  2. #2
    #define WORLD "sad place" LinuxCoder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Portugal
    Posts
    89
    I believe any C++ beginner's book will do, here is what i think is the best approach into learning the language.
    • If you really want to start out with C++ grab a beginner's book, any beginner's book will do the trick i believe since they won't focus all that much on the really advanced topics. plus, some tricks and tips will only come with practice and experience. *USE THIS AS A REFERENCE* Books are alway nice to check when you are having problems with a program and you can many times refer to the book to check out f you are actually doing things correctly.
    • Read online tutorials and beginner's articles. There are excelent stuff online that even more experienced programmers still use, as you can also see from these forums.
    • Start with really basic programs, don't limit yourself to copying examples and stuff, get your hands dirty, type code from your head and guts, think how stuff should work and only after you realize they don't should you look into 'existing code' from books or other sources.
    • Don't set your expectations too high for a starting programmer. Do several types small programs that do almost anything but they will teach you those basic things like learn the differences between data types and work with control structures like if, switch-case, for, while, etc...
    Good luck with the process.

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    13
    Edited: Sorry for any misunderstanding!
    Last edited by Fuzzy91; 04-10-2006 at 07:00 AM.

  4. #4
    Supermassive black hole cboard_member's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Posts
    1,709
    You weren't allowed to say that.
    Good class architecture is not like a Swiss Army Knife; it should be more like a well balanced throwing knife.

    - Mike McShaffry

  5. #5
    #define WORLD "sad place" LinuxCoder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Portugal
    Posts
    89
    where I can download C++ for dummies in an ebooK for free
    Now that was an unfortunate post i must say.

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    545
    I recommend SAMS Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours. There is also the teach yourself in 10 minutes but it says stuff that is really hard to understand like:

    Quote Originally Posted by Roughly the same as the book!
    Lets throw some error handling just to catch people out. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
    Code:
             //loads of code
    Quote Originally Posted by Me
    Yeah! Fine! But you haven't told us anything about it.
    There is also the 21 Hours book but I don't know how good that one is.

  7. #7
    Supermassive black hole cboard_member's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Posts
    1,709
    Disclaimer: The chances of you actually learning C++ in 21 days, 24 hours or 10 minutes are so slim, they may as well not exist.
    Good class architecture is not like a Swiss Army Knife; it should be more like a well balanced throwing knife.

    - Mike McShaffry

  8. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    545
    Well the 10 minutes one was a bad piece of advertising because it is like 100 10 minute lessons.

  9. #9
    Supermassive black hole cboard_member's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Posts
    1,709
    Stupid SAM.
    Good class architecture is not like a Swiss Army Knife; it should be more like a well balanced throwing knife.

    - Mike McShaffry

  10. #10
    Master of Puppets rwmarsh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    96
    I started off with C++ Without Fear. Did a good job of explaining all the basic aspects of the language and some insight on OOP.
    Using DEV-C++ Under Windows XP
    +------------------------------+

    "No! Do, or Do Not. There is no Try..."

  11. #11
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    7,366
    Be aware that few (if any) C++ beginner books show good C++ habits and practices. You will have to re-learn C++ a bit after you learn the basics of programming.

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    241
    The 21 days book is pretty good although I never really read it all that much, I should get back in to reading that... but if you do the book every day, just one thing a day, you will be pretty familiar with c++ and be able to program some usefull programs...

  13. #13
    Registered User Kayoss's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    53
    I started by using C++ How to Program (Fourth Ed) in class, then later picked up C++ for Dummies. The Dummies is great for reference; however I find it too basic. The How to Program text is too complicated.

    I'm still ISO an in-between text, so I will try some of the books suggested here.
    THE redheaded stepchild.

  14. #14
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    22
    The problem always is, you can learn the language semantics and still be a terrible programmer. You need to understand how to design good classes, using sound object-oriented design techniques. Learning how to assign responsibilities to your classes is ultimately much more powerful than simply learning a language and hacking code together. Yes, you DO need to know the language in order to program in it (the C++ For Dummies is easy to follow, if you don't mind the occassional joke). Just don't forget to also learn good object-oriented design. (See Craig Larman's book Applying UML and Patterns).

Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed

Similar Threads

  1. URGENT: Help wanted...in C
    By iamjimjohn in forum C Programming
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 05-18-2007, 05:46 AM
  2. Can't display book and borrower's details.
    By grscot in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-02-2003, 10:18 AM
  3. Books on C and C++
    By kermi3 in forum A Brief History of Cprogramming.com
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 10-28-2002, 04:18 PM
  4. C++: Reference Book, GUI, Networking & Beyond
    By kuphryn in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 11-10-2001, 08:03 PM