reading material for C++

[Vertico]

anyone know of a good book for C++. doesnt realy need to be a "from scratch" book, but something with good information, help and useful tips.

thanks

[wtd]

Thinking in C++

Oh, and learn a nicer language.

[Vertico]

lol, and what do u recommend? I'm always game for learning.

[wtd]

You mentioned O'Caml elsewhere. That's a pretty good answer for your question.

[McKenzie]

Vertico - As much as wtd means well, there is nothing wrong with learning C++. It is an excellent marketable skill. There's nothing wrong with O'Caml, Ruby and Python but C++, Java and VB are still popular for good reasons. They get the job done.

[md]

Getting the job done isn't always the goal. Besides there is nothing preventing anyone from learning more then one language.

[wtd]

Indeed. Everyone should learn C++. Just not necessarily first (or second, if we're talking about Turing being first). Hence the winking smiley.

[wtd]

However, I would add that O'Caml in particular will make one a better C++ programmer. Being accustomed to O'Caml generics will encurage the budding C++ programmer not to fear templates, and more easily see their weaknesses (it's vitally important that we know thw weaknesses of the tools we use, so we can anticipate problems).

O'Caml has fantastic lessons to teach about scope, which can benefit programmers in any language, and especially C++.

First class fucntions will encourage one to investigate C++'s standard template library, and especially it's "algorithm" header file.

That said, I am not trying to push O'Caml overly hard. I did not even bring it up in this thread. However, I will reinforce the idea that it's not a black and white matter of one language or another.

[McKenzie]

All I was saying is if you want to get paid for your work C++ is more usefull on a resume. I think learning O'Caml is great, but I think it needs to be O'Caml as well as C++ rather than instead of C++.

[wtd]

McKenzie wrote:

All I was saying is if you want to get paid for your work C++ is more usefull on a resume. I think learning O'Caml is great, but I think it needs to be O'Caml as well as C++ rather than instead of C++.

Absolutely.

Though if you want to make money, you learn Java or VB.

[wtd]

In my defense I did provide a link to some great free reading material on C++.

[Vertico]

actually I plan to continue learning c++ as well as start on O'Caml, as I stated in another post. I would like to spread my knowledge and be able to use most if not all languages, not just the "popular" ones. Plus, if learning and understanding O'Caml will make understanding c++ or any other languages I have yet to grasp slightly easier and less complicated, then surly it's worth my time.

[Null]

wtd wrote:

Oh, and learn a nicer language.

I don't like when people do that. He didn't ask for language recommendations, he asked for information on C++.

I very highly recommended book is Accelerated C++. I haven't read it myself, but it is generally considered the best introduction to modern C++ (which seperates itself from C quite a lot).

After you've learned the basics, I would point you here: http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/ , which I frequently use to get reminders on things such as when to throw exceptions, when to pass by reference, and how to properly use const. It is a very useful site.

[wtd]

Null wrote:

wtd wrote:

Oh, and learn a nicer language.

I don't like when people do that. He didn't ask for language recommendations, he asked for information on C++.

And what if I can provide both in one post?

C++ is a good language to learn, eventually but the fact of the matter is that most people learn C++ for all the wrong reasons, and they get in over their heads and become overwhelmed, and it isn't even remotely necessary for those people to be alienated from programming as a hobby or profession.