I am interested in learning how to program in C++ . My friend told me a good book to use is Charles Petzold "Programming Windows 5th Edition", is this a good book to use, or is there a better one to get? Any replies will be appreciated.
Thank You
Printable View
I am interested in learning how to program in C++ . My friend told me a good book to use is Charles Petzold "Programming Windows 5th Edition", is this a good book to use, or is there a better one to get? Any replies will be appreciated.
Thank You
Petzolds is a fine book for learning the Win32 API. It is not a good choice for learning the language.
Search the board, there are numerous threads on this subject.
Here let me help.
http://www.maththinking.com/boat/computerbooks.html
go under languages and you will see several free books to read for c++.
also
here is a website that helps in reviewing books.
http://www.accu.org./bookreviews/pub.../0sb/index.htm
accu.org needs to updated. They have many older versions of books but none of the new ones.
yeah but it still gives you a brief view of the authors never to touch and the books that are ok.
I like the Deitel & Deitel C++ How to program, it's a good book to learn C++... It takes you from the ground up to some advanced issues in C++, and ofcourse it follows the ANSI/ISO standards...
yea, I agree with Deitel & Deitel.
It's a really good beginner's book.
I'm using Beginning Visual C++ 6 by Ivor Horton. Anyone know if thats a something I should be reading?
Been a while since I looked at it. It was a pretty good book if I recall, especially for an intro to Windows programming. The two complaints that I had were: it skips or goes rather lightly over some powerful features, and is too dependent upon MSVC++ and its IDE.Quote:
Originally posted by ZakkWylde969
I'm using Beginning Visual C++ 6 by Ivor Horton. Anyone know if thats a something I should be reading?
But isn't it teaching Visual Studio programming?Quote:
Originally posted by Zach L.
Been a while since I looked at it. It was a pretty good book if I recall, especially for an intro to Windows programming. The two complaints that I had were: it skips or goes rather lightly over some powerful features, and is too dependent upon MSVC++ and its IDE.
Yeah. Nothing wrong with that, its just more specialized than most books. Overall, I'd say its a good book though.
I think you should learn the language iteslf first.Quote:
Originally posted by ZakkWylde969
I'm using Beginning Visual C++ 6 by Ivor Horton. Anyone know if thats a something I should be reading?
Yeppp....Quote:
You should learn the language yourself first
"Programming Windows 5th Edition" is a good book, when you know enough about C++ programming, then you can read the book to start windows programming (winapi....)
The standard book is:
"C++ The Programming Language" by Bjarne Stroutstrup
or
"C The Programming Language" by Dennis Ritchie
search the board for more book threads, there are a lot (I'm sure, that you find some good book reviews...)
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.
It's split into half. The first half teaches strictly C++ then it moves onto the specific programming using Visual Studio. So basically I can use a different compiler and still learn C++ with the book. It's a 1054 page book so it has enough room to teach C++.Quote:
Originally posted by ammar
I think you should learn the language iteslf first.
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)
Wow. What a blow to find out that the book I was most looking forward to reading because it was *supposed* to teach you all the things that other books leave out, is rated as pure crap: Core C++: A Software Engineering Approach.
I got it through that online bookclub about 2 years ago along with 'Standard C++ Bible by Stevens and Walnum' and 'C++ in 24 hours by Jesse Liberty'.
That list of reviews is pretty sad; so many bad books. There ought to be a law against making someone pull their hair out because your tech book is total garbage. I really do feel sorry for people who no doubt give up on programming because they think they're not smart enough to grasp it, when in reality it's just the horrible book they're using. Sheesh. What a nightmare.
So, I guess I'll toss my core c++ book in the trash and work out of the other two which seem to be a little more up to date, but I really am interested in what that book claimed to offer. I want to *master* the language, but I don't want to get any deeper into the bowells of the code than I have to; Iow, I want to be practical.
On another note, I just noticed tonight that the book that came with my Borland 5.0 IDE that I bought 2 years ago is actually v4.0! Heh. God I hate it when they do that; I can probably get the updated version online, I imagine. That must explain why it doesn't cover namespace and the code looks a bit out of date compared to my other books.
Is there a book out there that seeks to cover all the tips, tricks, leftovers and leftouts that so many other books have problems with? I really don't want to have to unlearn and relearn anymore than I have to; I simply don't have the mentally energy to wake up one day and find out what I've been learning is all BS.
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!Quote:
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!Quote:
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.