Suggest a good book to learn C++

[Rajesh V]

Hello,

Please suggest a good book to learn C++.

Thank you,
Rajesh V

[arnaudk]

I learnt the very basics of C++ from C++ Programming (Visual QuickStart Guide) by Ullman and Singer. Its an inexpensive and easy to read first book on C++.

Later, after writing my first realistic program and losing control of my own code because of an enormous main routine and a plethora of functions crammed into two bloated objects, I realised that what I had learnt from that book was really the absolute basics of the language but nothing about proper design which is especially important with object oriented programming, so I read "C++ In Action: Industrial Strength Programming" by Bartosz Milewski. In this book, while teaching you the basics and more advanced features of the language, the author develops a rather complete calculator program, showing you how to come up with a good design, and how to improve it through multiple code reviews. You can read that book online for free. Although in principle no prior knowledge of C/C++ is required, you may find it a little tough as a first book.

[JosAH]

If you really want to learn C++ go back to the roots of all evil and read the book:
"The C++ Programming Language III edition" by Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator
of that behemoth of a language.

kind regards,

Jos

[weaknessforcats]

Actually, you want to read the Stroustrup book after you already know C++. It's a great reference but is nealy gibberish to the beginner.

I recommend the C++ Primer Plus 5th ed by Stephen Prata. This book assumes no prior knowledge of C and approaches C++ from the very beginning. I useed thgis text as a techining tool for many years and never found a better book.

Also, I recommend that you read only 10 pages a day from a C++ book. That way you won't get tired. At that rate you will cover 3650 pages of text in one year. That's about 4 books. C++ will require about a year to learn.

If you also enter each example into your computer and build and execute it to verify the book is correct, then you will develop proficiency in coding. You see, it's by the doing and not the reading that you learn C++.

[dtimes6]

Nicolai M. Josuttis, C++ Standard Library.
Peter van der Linden, Expert C Programming.
Scott Meyers, Effective C++, Effective STL, More Effective C++.
Stanley B. Lippman, C++ Primer, Inside the C++ Object Model.
Stephen C. Dewhurst, C++ Gotchas.
Bjarne Stroustrup, The C++ Programming Language Special Edition, The Design And Evolution Of C++.
Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie, The C Programming Language.
Andrei Alexandrescu, Modern C++ Design-Generic Programming and Design Patterns Applied.
Andrew Koenig, Barbara E. Moo, Accelerated C++.
...