Another beginner question - don't not read this one

roark04 · 2004-04-14T01:59:07

OK... I''m new to programming but I want to learn c++ and I''m planning on writing a MMORPG sometime this year... Haha just kidding. OK really - I have very little experience in programming (I can do a little with gwbasic, qbasic, trs-80 basic...) and have decided to start learning c++. My main question is this - what book should I start out with that can teach me from the ground up? Before you start flaming me - I''ve been to the "for beginners" section of this website and I''ve kinda found it out of date and inadequate. It recommends a book (the C++ primer i think it is) for beginners - but when I went to amazon and read the readers reviews on the book, it looked like everyone pretty much agreed that it wasn''t any type of book for someone starting from scratch. The beginners were complaining they couldn''t understand anything, and the experts were saying it was a great book - but not really for beginners. I can afford to spend money on books - but I don''t want to waste money and time on something that''s just going to turn me off to programming because it doesn''t present things in a clear and logical fashion. I consider myself a smart guy, but if a book starts assuming I know things that I don''t know... Another concern I have is that most of the books I see available were published 4 to 6 years ago. It seems to me that a lot of what they teach would be out of date. Is that a valid concern? Also, are most of the books that teach C++ compiler specific? Platform specific? Am I going to get confused if I try to use Devc++ with mingw and the book is trying to teach visual c++? Or does it even really matter for a beginner because everything at my level will all be the same? Also will it be harder for me learn with something like devc++ because from what I''ve read the ide doesn''t "help" you quite as much? Ok I know that''s a lot of questions but I''d really appreciate it if I could get all you guy''s inputs. I kinda think some of the answers you could give would help out other people just starting out. Also if you could, I would appreciate a list of a progression of books that I could work my way through (as opposed to just one starting book). Thanks matt

For Beginners

Started by roark04 April 04, 2004 08:48 AM

16 comments, last by roark04 20 years ago

Virus2566

122

April 07, 2004 05:43 PM

some advice is to go to your local book seller and browse through varioius books. This is more important with DirectX (I have over 6 books) because some books are stronger in some areas and weak in others.

As a side note, learn pointers and memory management. they are the most important thing to game programming as the compiler.

"Not all who wander are lost."- J.R.R. Tolkien

TheNobleOne

176

April 07, 2004 08:41 PM

I am learning with C++ Primer Plus Second Edition by Stephen Prata. I know there is a newer version out now but it is a good book and takes into account that you may know nothing about Programming howerver, some programming experience will make concepts easier. Also the C++ Primer Plus books follow the most current ANSI C++ Standard that existed when the book was written.

My JournalComputer science education cannot make anybody an expert programmer any more than studying brushes and pigment can make somebody an expert painter. (Eric Raymond)"C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot. C++ makes itharder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg."-- Bjarne Stroustrup

Malfunction

122

April 07, 2004 09:50 PM

Im currently reading Wiley''s Teach yourself C++ 7th addition. It is fairly easy to understand so far and it comes with a compiler. However the compiler lacks a fw functions like Wchar_t wc; (makes your characters wider) but there are ones on the internet you can download. (www.bloodshed.net has some nice free compilers)

Hm... It looks like what we have here is an Id-10-T error.

Drakkcon

612

April 12, 2004 09:12 PM

The ''in 21 days'' books aren''t so bad. I learned C in 21 days, then read Thinking in C++. Clear as crystal, and I''m 14

The true general first seeks victory, then seeks battle
- Sun Tzu

the_moo

248

April 13, 2004 01:01 AM

i learnt my c++ from tutorials off the net

like others have said, just search for ''C++ tutorials'' or something on those lines and u''ll be bound to find something thats good to learn the basics or even (like my luck) an entire web book

about 200 pages on MS Word !!

just search the web...

the_moo

Tiffany_Smith

1,300

April 13, 2004 01:39 AM

I think you'll find at least two good book recommendations for beginners of C++ here.

[edited by - tiffany_smith on April 13, 2004 2:40:37 AM]

James Sioutis

122

April 13, 2004 02:06 AM

'Sams teach yourself C++ in 21 Days', i know everyone always says to stay away from the "teach yourself xxx in 21 days/hours/minutes", thats mostly true but this book is pretty straightforward and he does a good job of explaining everything. just dont get any book saying it can teach you C/C++ in 10 minutes or a day because that would take a miracle.

also this book comes with MSVC++ 6.0 Introductory so you dont have to search around on the web for a crappy free compiler, the only problem with this is that you cant send your programs to anyone with this edition (the programs only work on your computer) which is rather gay but its better than nothin i guess.

~aussie

[edited by - James Sioutis on April 13, 2004 3:14:54 AM]

[~aussie]

roark04

122

Author

April 14, 2004 01:59 AM

I''m reading thinking in c++ right now (bought it off amazon) and I think its great - so thanks to you guys who recommended to me. The cd that comes with it is nice too .. It''s a lot easier to learn like that (with reading and audio explanation). Oh yeah and dev C++ works great too except it locks up every once in a while which is frustating - but i guess thats what you get with beta.

matt

Another beginner question - don't not read this one

This topic is closed to new replies.

Popular Topics

Recommended Tutorials

Another beginner question - don't not read this one

This topic is closed to new replies.

Popular Topics

Recommended Tutorials

Reticulating splines