Best place to learn C++
My recommendations, read them mostly in order.
# Accelerated C++ by Koenig & Moo
# C++ Primer by Lippman, Lajoie, and Moo, but only if you had trouble with the book above.
# Effective C++, by Meyers
# Effective Modern C++, by Meyers
# Effective STL, by Meyers
# Exceptional C++, by Sutter
# More Exceptional C++, by Sutter
# The C++ Standard Library, by Josuttis,
# The actual C++ standard
I give my reasons for it often enough it became a web page.
Working through all of those books -- along with applying the details as you go -- will put you far beyond many who are working in industry.
Programming is an art. You learn it by practicing it, no other way. A good book is great to get you started, and as you become better you can get intermediate and advanced books to refine your skills or develop new ones, but to become a programmer you need to write programs. If you have the money I really suggest taking classes.
I personally find YouTube videos very helpful as I'm a visual learner - there are plenty of playlists on there.
HandmadeHero is quite good, though it's mostly C it is game-oriented unlike a lot of other C++ playlists.
I'm recommending this as an addition to the books listed above - not a replacement!
Honestly, here's what I would do.
1. Learn two languages that are not C/C++. Start with Javascipt, Python, Java, C#, or something more forgiving until you understand the basics. Although I learned on C, I would not recommend it. Make some simple programs and simple games. Make sure you learn and understand object oriented programming: Composition, Inheritance, Abstraction, and Polymorphism.
2. Read this:
Learn C the Hard Way: Practical Exercises on the Computational Subjects You Keep Avoiding (Like C) (Zed Shaw's Hard Way Series)
by Zed A. Shaw
Link: http://amzn.com/0321884922
3. You're done. C++ will just be learning the syntax and figuring out the weird way classes work, and fighting with templates (which I still do, so I'm not sure you ever actually "learn" it)
To be a good C++ programming you need to understand constructors, destructors, inheritance and pointers (as a bare minimum). Once you know how those things work then start coding. Start small and simple like creating text based games. ie build choose your own adventure type games where text is displayed on the screen and you need to make a choice with the keyboard to decide which path to take. Planing and executing on a full game (even a simple one like this) can be a big task and it will teach you how to structure code so that you can reuse parts.
Once you are comfortable working with char's, int's, std::strings start to investigate the other parts of the standard template library. vectors, maps, queues, lists etc. Then try building a 2d text based game like tick-tac-toe or connect 4. This will teach you how to program things that uses arrays.
Now you can start looking at graphics, to improve upon the previous games that you have under your belt.
