Hello there,

so far I have read the following books:

• C++ with no fear
• C++ for the impatient
• C++ Prime 5th
• C++ for Game Developers
• C++ Accelerated

I suppose that I am ready to step into the advanced level of C++ programming and I think that STL is a good choice. Hm ?

That been told, I would like to ask you if I need to buy all these three books:

• “Effective C++,” 3rd edition, S. Myers, 2005.
• “More Effective C++,” S. Myers, 1996.
• “Effective STL,” S. Myers, 2001.

I know that Effective C++ is a must-have book (actually it is recommended by many users in these forums), but what about the other two ? Are they obsolete? What other books do you recommend for STL or more advanced topics in C+? and last but not least, when should I be able to start game development, like SFML ?

Thanks

Ive read "More effective c++" and "effective STL", and in my personal opinion it's a waste of money. Sure it contains good, sound advice but nothing that you won't find on the internet such as just googling around on C++/STL or browsing sites like stack overflow. Not to mention litterature is rediculously expensive and you've already bought five books, but it's your money after all.

I havn't read "Effective C++" though so I cannot comment on that one.

Also, more coding and less reading upfront, the best way to really learn more is when you've stumbled on a specific problem while coding.

I'd recommend at least reading all three, but going down to your library and going through them once or twice is enough and they're popular enough that you should be able to get them through inter library loan without a problem. The thing is they're old enough that the language has changed around them.

Chances are that if you go for a C++ job interview then at least one of the inteview questions will come directly from "effective C++" so it's worthwhile skimming through.

As SiCrane says though don't buy it full price. Loan it from a library. Or if you are like me and insist on collecting shelves full of dead trees then check the second hand ones on Amazon. I got my copy for 99p.

Thank you all for answering :)

Unfortunatelly, I live in Greece and due to the financial crisis applied in my city (2nd largest city in Greece), the local library and major bookstores are closed -- for good. So, my only choice is Amazon 2nd-hand.

Note that an update, in form of "Effective C++11", is coming in Meyers' series, so I'd probably wait for that:

http://scottmeyers.blogspot.com/2013/01/effective-c11-content-and-status.html

Also coming (next year) is "Effective Concurrency in C++" by Herb Sutter, which may also be worth a go.

In the meantime, "C++ Concurrency in Action - Practical Multithreading" by Anthony Williams may be worth knowing (if you haven't familiarized yourself with C++11 multithreading yet): http://www.manning.com/williams/

Regarding the Standard Library, "The C++ Standard Library - A Tutorial and Reference, 2nd Edition" is the standard reference: http://www.cppstdlib.com/

For more, see:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list