book recommendation for C programmer

[Gordon]

Hi all,

I've been told that Stroustrup's C++ book is a must read, but is subtle and
advanced enough that much would be lost to me if I didn't know much of the
language ahead of time.

I'm already proficient at C, and know enough about C++ to use it as "C with
classes".

The thought of having to read about the language conditionals and looping
fills me with dread; I really don't need to read about how an "if statement"
works. For this reason, my wife's book, Deitel and Deitel would be painful
to read.

Are there any books I may want to look at to learn C++? My goal is to really
learn the language in earnest, and exploit all the benfits of OOPing, not to
just use it as "C with classes".

Thanks!

 

[Mike Wahler]

Hi all,

I've been told that Stroustrup's C++ book is a must read, but is subtle
and
advanced enough that much would be lost to me if I didn't know much of the
language ahead of time.

I'm already proficient at C, and know enough about C++ to use it as "C
with
classes".

The thought of having to read about the language conditionals and looping
fills me with dread; I really don't need to read about how an "if
statement"
works. For this reason, my wife's book, Deitel and Deitel would be
painful
to read.

Are there any books I may want to look at to learn C++? My goal is to
really
learn the language in earnest, and exploit all the benfits of OOPing, not
to
just use it as "C with classes".

www.acceleratedcpp.com

-Mike

 

[Ben Pope]

www.acceleratedcpp.com

Seconded.

It will start off with "Hello World", which, presumably, you can do.

However, although C++ can support most of the C constructs, and thus compile C code, there are ways of doing things in C++ that are easier to code and much safer than you would do
in C.

You will still need to have some reference for many of the C++ idioms such as RAII, but thats the sort of thing you pick up with experience and looking in places such as this.

Ben

 

[dast]

Are there any books I may want to look at to learn C++? My goal is to really

learn the language in earnest, and exploit all the benfits of OOPing, not to
just use it as "C with classes".

My favorite books are:
- Effective C++

http://www.awprofessional.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321334876&rl=1
- More Effective C++
http://www.awprofessional.com/titles/0-201-63371-X/
- Exceptional C++
http://www.gotw.ca/publications/xc++.htm
- More Exceptional C++
http://www.gotw.ca/publications/mxc++.htm
- C++ Coding Standards
http://www.gotw.ca/publications/c++cs.htm

Regards,
Daniel.

 

[Gordon]

Seconded.

It will start off with "Hello World", which, presumably, you can do.

However, although C++ can support most of the C constructs, and thus
compile C code, there are ways of doing things in C++ that are easier to
code and much safer than you would do in C.

You will still need to have some reference for many of the C++ idioms such
as RAII, but thats the sort of thing you pick up with experience and
looking in places such as this.

Hi Mike, Ben, and Daniel,

Wow! With reviews like that, it's hard to argue. Book has been ordered from
Amazon. I'm hoping that by admitting I use C++ incorrectly, my mind is
sufficiently de-prejudiced enough to learn a new way of programming from
scratch.

Daniel, I actually have Scott Meyers books (Effective and More Effective) and
the C++ FAQ. A friend who is quite comfortable with the language said that
Scott Meyers and the C++ FAQ taught him everything he knew. I bought them,
and can tell they'll be great to learn from, but I think I should be
concentrating on the basics first.

It's frustrating feeling like a newbie when I'm so comfortable with C, but I
can tell there's a lot of depth to C++. My first impression of it is that
it may not be suitable to the "shut up and code" way of programming. It
seems like it might take a lot of thought about the task beforehand.

Anyway, thanks for the advice! I'm looking forward to reading Koenig's book.
C Traps and Pitfalls was one of my favorite books.

G.

 

[Steven T. Hatton]

Hi all,

I've been told that Stroustrup's C++ book is a must read, but is subtle
and advanced enough that much would be lost to me if I didn't know much of
the language ahead of time.

I'm already proficient at C, and know enough about C++ to use it as "C
with classes".

The thought of having to read about the language conditionals and looping
fills me with dread; I really don't need to read about how an "if
statement"
works. For this reason, my wife's book, Deitel and Deitel would be
painful to read.

Are there any books I may want to look at to learn C++? My goal is to
really learn the language in earnest, and exploit all the benfits of
OOPing, not to just use it as "C with classes".

Thanks!

Stroustrup's book is _the_ book. But it is not something you can cakewalk
through. Don't worry too much about a simple review of C. That's only a
few chapters, and even there, there will be new stuff introduced.