C++ Book required for ex C / C++ / Perl developer to recap / learn

[barfle]

I developed in C full time from 1989 - 1998 or so.

Since then I have been writing a fair bit of C++ but I still feel I
write it in a 'C' type way as I have never had any formal C++
training.

I am familiar with the principles of classes , operator overloading,
virtual functions, templates etc etc and have done some worjk using
the STL. However it has mostly been maintenance of existing code and I
haven't had much recent experience of designing and producing a
working project from scratch, implementing the principles of C++ and
efficiently and fully using new functionality. I need to get myself
thinking in C++ rather C.

I'm now between jobs so I have a bit of time to brush up on my skills
and am going to set myself a project (200 hours development time) so
that I can assess exactly which C++ areas I am strong and weak in.

I'm looking for a book which will help me along with this ,
particularly one with some emphasis on OOD which I haven't used much
(although I have written some OO Perl ) and a lot of good exercises so
that I can assess how much I have picked up / forgotten.
I have both Windows and Unix experience and would like something that
is not too biased towards either platform ( I will be working on
Windows for this project)

Most of the books I have seen seem to be written for C++ developers
who have no prior C experience and therefore waste a lot of space on
the C basics which is not great for people like me who have a strong C
background.

I'd be grateful if anyone here could come up with any good
recommendations . I have sourched the web and relevant forums but have
yet to come up with an oustanding candidate.

The books I currently have are

Teach yourself C++ - Jesse Liberty - SAMS
C++ for programmers - Ammeraal - WPC
Effective STL - Meyers - Addison Wesley
Practical C++ Programming - Oualline - O'Reilly
C++ : The Core Language - Satir + Brown -O'Reilly

I am a fan of O'Reilly books - I have the O'Reilly Perl CD Bookshelf
(6 of the Perl books on CD ) and it is excellent.

I was thinking of getting O'Reilly C++ Cookbook and C++ in a nutshell
(on offer on amazon if bought together) since I found the Perl
Cookbook excellent.

Anyone have any good recommendations ?

Many thanks in advance

 

[mlimber]

I developed in C full time from 1989 - 1998 or so.

Since then I have been writing a fair bit of C++ but I still feel I
write it in a 'C' type way as I have never had any formal C++
training.

I am familiar with the principles of classes , operator overloading,
virtual functions, templates etc etc and have done some worjk using
the STL. However it has mostly been maintenance of existing code and I
haven't had much recent experience of designing and producing a
working project from scratch, implementing the principles of C++ and
efficiently and fully using new functionality. I need to get myself
thinking in C++ rather C.

I'm now between jobs so I have a bit of time to brush up on my skills
and am going to set myself a project (200 hours development time) so
that I can assess exactly which C++ areas I am strong and weak in.

I'm looking for a book which will help me along with this ,
particularly one with some emphasis on OOD which I haven't used much
(although I have written some OO Perl ) and a lot of good exercises so
that I can assess how much I have picked up / forgotten.
I have both Windows and Unix experience and would like something that
is not too biased towards either platform ( I will be working on
Windows for this project)

Most of the books I have seen seem to be written for C++ developers
who have no prior C experience and therefore waste a lot of space on
the C basics which is not great for people like me who have a strong C
background.

I'd be grateful if anyone here could come up with any good
recommendations . I have sourched the web and relevant forums but have
yet to come up with an oustanding candidate.

The books I currently have are

Teach yourself C++ - Jesse Liberty - SAMS
C++ for programmers - Ammeraal - WPC
Effective STL - Meyers - Addison Wesley
Practical C++ Programming - Oualline - O'Reilly
C++ : The Core Language - Satir + Brown -O'Reilly

I am a fan of O'Reilly books - I have the O'Reilly Perl CD Bookshelf
(6 of the Perl books on CD ) and it is excellent.

I was thinking of getting O'Reilly C++ Cookbook and C++ in a nutshell
(on offer on amazon if bought together) since I found the Perl
Cookbook excellent.

Anyone have any good recommendations ?

Many thanks in advance

With your background, you might do well with the Creator's tome: _The C
++ Programming Language_ 3rd ed, by Stroustrup.

For more of a tutorial style, I'd highly recommend _Accelerated C++_
by Koenig and Moo, which teaches C++ from the ground up the right way
(e.g., it introduces vectors and strings up front and leaves pointers
and arrays to the end; cf. FAQ 34.1). It's short, and it's the best of
it's kind IMHO.

For advanced techniques, you may also want to get something like
_Modern C++ Design_ by Alexandrescu, which shows how to use OO design
patterns effectively in C++, but it is not for those who are not
already somewhat comfortable with using templates.

You can also find many book reviews at accu.org, and see these FAQs on
learning OO/C++:

http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/how-to-learn-cpp.html

Cheers! --M

 

[BobR]

I developed in C full time from 1989 - 1998 or so.

Since then I have been writing a fair bit of C++ but I still feel I
write it in a 'C' type way as I have never had any formal C++
training.
[snip]
I'd be grateful if anyone here could come up with any good
recommendations . I have sourched the web and relevant forums but have
yet to come up with an oustanding candidate.
The books I currently have are

Teach yourself C++ - Jesse Liberty - SAMS
C++ for programmers - Ammeraal - WPC
Effective STL - Meyers - Addison Wesley
Practical C++ Programming - Oualline - O'Reilly
C++ : The Core Language - Satir + Brown -O'Reilly
[snip]
Anyone have any good recommendations ?
Many thanks in advance

In *addition* to the other books suggested (mlimber):

Get "Thinking in C++", 2nd ed. Volume 1&2 by Bruce Eckel
(available for free here. You can buy it in hardcopy too.):
http://www.mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html

--
Bob R
POVrookie
--
Dev-C++ IDE: http://www.bloodshed.net/
MinGW (GNU compiler): http://www.mingw.org/
MinGWStudio http://www.parinyasoft.com/
wxWidgets URL: http://www.wxwidgets.org
Alf P. Steinbach's "Pointers" document:
http://home.no.net/dubjai/win32cpptut/special/pointers/ch_01.pdf

 

[barfle]

With your background, you might do well with the Creator's tome: _The C
++ Programming Language_ 3rd ed, by Stroustrup.

For more of a tutorial style, I'd highly recommend _Accelerated C++_
by Koenig and Moo, which teaches C++ from the ground up the right way
(e.g., it introduces vectors and strings up front and leaves pointers
and arrays to the end; cf. FAQ 34.1). It's short, and it's the best of
it's kind IMHO.

For advanced techniques, you may also want to get something like
_Modern C++ Design_ by Alexandrescu, which shows how to use OO design
patterns effectively in C++, but it is not for those who are not
already somewhat comfortable with using templates.

Thanks mlimber.

I used to have access to Stroustrup at work so I never bothered buying
a copy. It might be worth investing in.

Alexandrescu popped up when I did a search on amazon for C++ OOP and
had quite favourable reviews. I've used templates and understand the
principles but wouldn't necessarily say I am comfortable with them
I'll have another look at this.

Koenig and Moo I wasn't aware of. It sounds good - I like short books
as I can take them out with me and read them on the train.

 

[barfle]

In *addition* to the other books suggested (mlimber):

Get "Thinking in C++", 2nd ed. Volume 1&2 by Bruce Eckel
(available for free here. You can buy it in hardcopy too.):http://www.mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html

Thanks Bob

Just checked out the reviews on and this has very high ratings for
people who are experienced in C but don't know so much C++ ( which is
definitely my position ) so this is definitely high up on my list.