C++ As First Language

For Beginners

Started by shadowstep00 July 11, 2012 10:32 AM

71 comments, last by Fredericvo 11 years, 9 months ago

462

July 12, 2012 08:33 AM

So what I really want from you is to tell me which language you prefer most and a good introductory book with it. I will check all the books reviews and see what is better for me.

I prefer C++ and this book looks recent and decent enough:
Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321543726/?tag=stackoverfl08-20

Also all the best practices and intermediate books from (the beginner books are published around 2000 and might not be that good):
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list

rnlf_in_space

1,918

July 12, 2012 08:42 AM

While Stroustrup writes very good books, I would never recommend one of his books to a beginning programmer. He usually assumes you already know how to program (in any language) and builds upon this knowledge. Also this book seems to focus on "classic" C++. It uses some things that are outdated by today's standards and has actually no C++11 content.

This book is outdated and not suitable for beginning programmers.

Codarki

462

July 12, 2012 09:35 AM

While Stroustrup writes very good books, I would never recommend one of his books to a beginning programmer. He usually assumes you already know how to program (in any language) and builds upon this knowledge.

Overall picture I got from the description, excert, and couple of reviews is, that this book is aimed at non-programmers and using modern C++ as the language to teach different aspects of programming. I haven't read it so maybe I'm wrong.

Also this book seems to focus on "classic" C++. It uses some things that are outdated by today's standards and has actually no C++11 content.

Not all C++11 content is aimed at beginners. I'm willing to bet there is heavy use RAII and other best practices.

This book is outdated and not suitable for beginning programmers.

This is published at 2008. Many other suggested books here are from 2000 or so. Can you provide better alternative, which is recent enough to use modern techniques, and aimed at beginners?

rnlf_in_space

1,918

July 12, 2012 10:00 AM

I'm afraid I don't know any. I used the old "C++ Programming Language" by Stroustrup, but I knew how to program back then. Maybe the book is better suitable for beginners, than I thought, it's in any case much better then this no-fear-book. I guess, if someone really wanted to learn C++ as a first language, this book might be a nice start, but one would have to read up on C++11 and try to forget some of the old C++03 clutter the book teaches.

rnlf_in_space

1,918

July 12, 2012 10:27 AM

Maybe I've been a little to harsh on the Without-Fear book as well. After looking at it again, it does at least seem to introduce important C++11 concepts. Maybe in an order I wouldn't recommend, but then I am no teacher and have no training in didactics.

And then, my standards may be a bit to high. Still, don't start learning how to program with C++.

shadowstep00

738

Author

July 12, 2012 12:06 PM

If i learn Python well will I be able to go on C++ without a problem? or i should learn another language again ?

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rnlf_in_space

1,918

July 12, 2012 12:11 PM

If you really try to understand the concecpts behind python, you will automatically understand the concepts behind a lot of C++.

You will still have to learn the new syntax, you will have to make the move from dynamically to statically typed languages and you will have to understand the conecpt of manual memory management (and how to avoid it in C++) and you will have to learn the new standard library.

That's all you need to know to apply your python knowledge to C++. After you mastered that, you may find it much easier to move on to the interesting features of C++ that let it stand out from the rest of the languages. But you may perhaps get there faster, if you learn python at first, because you can learn the basics in a more forgiving, easier language.

As someone pointed out above: You will not move from python to C++, you will keep python and take C++ as a second language.

Detectiverr

112

July 12, 2012 11:37 PM

Just buy a "C++ How to program C++" by Deitel &Deitel. That's the book I'm reading so far.

Serapth

6,672

July 13, 2012 08:07 PM

Maybe I've been a little to harsh on the Without-Fear book as well. After looking at it again, it does at least seem to introduce important C++11 concepts. Maybe in an order I wouldn't recommend, but then I am no teacher and have no training in didactics.

And then, my standards may be a bit to high. Still, don't start learning how to program with C++.

Yeah, it isn't specifically about C++11, expect those books to be showing up with more regularity.

That said, WIthout Fear is probably the most accessible beginners C++ book, while still teaching pretty good style. At least from my recollections when I researched this subject for the guide. It's hard to judge a book from a beginners perspective when you've already learned the subject.

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shadowstep00

738

Author

July 14, 2012 11:56 AM

Well I think I have decided to go with C# but again i cant find a good introductary book. The book C# Programming Language that Serapth recommended me is more of a reference or for experienced programmers than a begginers language tutorial (Head First series is not my type) .

If i cant find a good book on C# I will go for C++ no other choice.

Yeah I know this whole thing really sucks cause there are many like me that spend so much time thinking on which language they should start with and in the end they end up with the same and spending so much time choosing than actually working!. So sorry for being a pain in the ass. Just give me a good book to start with and end this thread at last.

Thank you!

Failure is not an option...

C++ As First Language

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C++ As First Language

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