Best microsoft programming books according to redditors
We found 763 Reddit comments discussing the best microsoft programming books. We ranked the 152 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 763 Reddit comments discussing the best microsoft programming books. We ranked the 152 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Well, this is usually because C++ is not really a beginner friendly language. You need to understand the architecture/fundamentals of a computer system at times to understand certain concepts and are often difficult to understand ex: pointers, dynamic memory allocation etc. and with C++ you never finish learning!
Yes, you are very correct about understanding basics before doing actual game-based programming, C++ Primer is pretty old but it's definitely a golden book alongside it though for someone like you I will suggest some of the books I read a couple years back and some that I believe are better for beginners:
Accelerated C++: Practical Programming by Example
Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++
The C++ Programming Language, 4th Edition- Very big book, read this after you've read the rest.
And a book that I've heard is pretty good for game development with c++: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Game-Development-professional-realistic/dp/1788629221
I would highly recommend the Effective C++ books to anyone who is learning C++. It should be mandatory reading once you grasp the basics of C++. These books are easy to read, and the "holy shit, this could have bit me in the ass hard" factor is high.
I read an interview a long time ago where one of the K&R guys said something to the effect of "Yeah, we got some of the operator precedence rules wrong. We noticed it after awhile but we didn't change it because by that time there were hundreds of kilobytes of code written in C and it didn't seem fair to change it."
I don't remember where I read that; it might have been in this book. Incidentally the fish on the cover is a coelacanth, pronounced "C-le-kanth" and it remained undiscovered until the 20th century, making it a "Deep C secret". I love the double pun and the book was quite good.
A good metric is by how expensive the object you're passing around is to make a copy of. In the case where you're passing by value, you're probably returning by value as well so two deep copies there. An alternative is references which are syntactically similar to pass by value but retain the memory niceties of pointers which don't require a full copy but rather just the passing of a memory address.
Typically my rule of thumb is bigger than a pointer use a const reference unless I need a fiddle with the bits in the object I'm passing then I'll go with a pointer. Given enough practice and seeing enough code you sort of get a feel for when it's best to use what, but you kind of need to understand the tradeoffs between how you throw around data.
Passing references everywhere is bad though because it makes it less obvious to person reading/using your code that the object you're passing in could potentially be different object than the one you passed in. If your function takes a pointer it tells the reader that you probably intend to do something with the object's data in the function to change it. Which comes to the second point of using 'const' everywhere which not only informs the reader that the object will not be changed but also binds your function to a contract to not be able to change the value.
For more stuff like this I highly recommend Effective C++ and More Effective C++
I think the problem is that there are two mutually incompatible teaching requirements here:
1/ Teach nix and C, including fork() and pals
2/ Teach C++ = modern, idiomatic C++ with STL from the outset*, as is generally considered to be the best way.
These are almost entirely separate areas and should be taught separately.
I can also throw in a recommendation for https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adaptive-Code-via-patterns-principles/dp/0735683204/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=C%23+SOLID&qid=1564580206&s=gateway&sr=8-2 - I have a copy and it's a good read
Effective C++: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Design
More Effective C++: 35 New Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs
I'm amazed that no-one has mentioned this.
The absolute best book for you is Accelerated C++ by Andrew Koenig and Barbara E. Moo.
It is targeted at people who already know another language, especially Java or Python.
As a beginner, the resources you use to learn are much more important than the programming language you end up learning with them. C++ may be more complex than C#, but they're both incredibly complex for a beginner, and so your effectiveness starting out relies an incredible amount on which books you choose to go through. When I was learning C++, I really enjoyed the book Accelerated C++ by Koeing and Moo. It eschews the "learn c, then c++" attitude some other books have, and believes that C++ is significantly different enough from C to warrant a different approach. And you learn C++ one piece at a time, so it's never overwhelming. I heartily recommend it if you decide to learn C++.
I don't own any C# books for beginners, so you'll have to ask someone else for a recommendation :P.
Just a quick note: programming is incredibly difficult when you're just starting out, but it's 10x as rewarding, and is one of the most fun skills you can pick up. Good luck on your journey!
I guess I'm going to go ahead and be "that guy".
Don't aim to work with a specific language.
I feel you should reframe your goal to be a "problem solver" that knows how to pick and use various tools to solve a problem. C++ may be one of those tools. Maybe C. Maybe Python. Maybe Java. You want to develop your skill set to be flexible enough to adopt the right tool for a job. Now, that's not to say you can't be a language expert. Language experts are very valuable and becoming one is a perfectly reasonable goal. That said, I think you'll find that you have many more opportunities when you remain flexible.
With that out of the way, I would say good next steps for continued C++ mastery are to read and understand Scott Meyers' excellent books:
Also go through the CppCoreGuidelines.
Beyond the language, make sure you know your standard data structures and algorithms.
You have a long journey ahead of you, but here goes :D
Beginner
C++ Primer: One of the better introductory books.
The C++ Standard Template Library: A Tutorial and Reference: Goes over the standard template library in fantastic detail, a must if you're going to be spending a lot of time writing C++.
The C++ Programming Language: Now that you have a good idea of how C++ is used, it's time to go over it again. TCPPL is written by the language's creator and is intended as an introductory book for experienced programmers. That said I think it's best read once you're already comfortable with the language so that you can full appreciate his nuggets of wisdom.
Intermediate
Modern C++ Design: Covers how to write reusable C++ code and common design patterns. You can definitely have started game programming by the time you read this book, however it's definitely something you should have on your reading list.
C++ Templates: Touches on some similar material as Modern C++ Design, but will help you get to grips with C++ Template programming and how to write reusable code.
Effective C++: Practical advise about C++ do's and dont's. Again, this isn't mandatory knowledge for gamedev, but it's advice is definitely invaluable.
Design Patterns: Teaches you commonly used design patterns. Especially useful if you're working as part of a team as it gives you a common set of names for design patterns.
Advanced
C++ Concurrency in Action: Don't be put off by the fact I've put this as an "advanced" topic, it's more that you will get more benefit out of knowing the other subjects first. Concurrency in C++11 is pretty easy and this book is a fantastic guide for learning how its done.
Graphics Programming
OpenGL: A surprisingly well written specification in that it's pretty easy to understand! While it's probably not the best resource for learning OpenGL, it's definitely worth looking at. [edit: Mix it in with Open.gl and arcsynthesis's tutorials for practical examples and you're off to a good start!]
OpenGL Superbible: The OpenGL superbible is one of the best ways to learn modern OpenGL. Sadly this isn't saying much, in fact the only other book appears to be the "Orange Book", however my sources indicate that is terrible. So you're just going to have suck it up and learn from the OGL Superbible![edit: in retrospect, just stick to free tutorials I've linked above. You'll learn more from them, and be less confused by what is 3rd party code supplied by the book. Substitute the "rendering" techniques you would learn from a 3d book with a good 3d math book and realtime rendering (links below)]Essential Mathematics for Game Programmers or 3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development: 3D programming involves a lot of math, these books cover topics that OpenGL/DirectX books tend to rush over.
Realtime Rendering: A graphics library independent explanation of a number of modern graphical techniques, very useful with teaching you inventive ways to use your newly found 3d graphical talents!
This is an ignorant, pointless post. I'd like to share with you the unreal engine documentation, and some standard industry software docs, and a book on C++. I'd invite you to learn these and join an indie team if it's so easy, cheers!
No. C++ is somewhat unique in that you really get what you pay for; I've not seen a single good online resource to learn it. Every tutorial I have ever looked at contains misinformation and bad practice.
The best way to learn C++, if you have done programming before, is with a book like Accelerated C++ or another from this list. If I am to consider you a complete novice, I would suggest you pick up Python or Ruby again before delving in to C++. There are good resources online for those and they are linked in the sidebar and FAQ.
I am actually going to try to be helpful, in stark contrast to the rest of the comments. You actually want to learn two things C++ and the C++ STL, because the STL is the way to actually get work done with C++ these days.
The vast majority of my college classes were in C++, so I have read several computer science textbooks aimed at C++. The least bad of all the ones I have personally used was Understanding Program Design and Data Structures with C++ by Lambert and Naps. It is the textbook that My Introduction to Computer Science I class used back in the day. It is a serviceable into to computer science book; if you new to computer science it isn't too bad, if you are familiar with comp sci then the book should all be trivial but a good way to learn the language. It is kind of old but the basics of computer science haven't really changed since the 1970's anyway so it doesn't matter [Amazon link]. Lambert and Naps seems to have a newer C++ book out, I don't know anything about it; if it is a newer edition or a different approach or what [Amazon link]. The nice thing about the older one is I can vouch that it is okay, and you can get it really cheap used through Amazon.
Bjarne Stroustroup is the original creator of C++. His book, The C++ Programming Language, is a very good and very thorough overview of the language. Be warned though, it reads like a dense college textbook, mostly because it is a dense college textbook [Amazon link].
The other really essential one is The C++ Standard Template Library by Plauger. Stepanov, et al.; Stepanov is the creator of the STL [Amazon link].
My favorite STL book is actually The C++ Standard Template Library: A Tutorial and Referenceby Josuttis. It is a lot more readable [Amazon link].
Remember, the STL is there to be used, and it hasn't sucked since the late 90's, so don't go around making your own string classes and stack classes, except when you are playing around to learn C++.
Also the Boost libraries are really good now too, but it didn't really exist when I was doing C++, so I don't have any idea what is a good book for that.
Good luck! I just gave you about a year's worth of reading material, but at the end you will be a well-qualified C++ newbie.
did you by any chance write this book?
http://www.amazon.com/Accelerated-C-Practical-Programming-Example/dp/020170353X
I don't have any experience with Clay and have a vested interest in D, so take the following with a grain of salt.
Here are my impressions on Clay vs D2 after having read the brief docs on the wiki:
[S] SizedSequence?(static S) = Sequence?(S) and CallDefined?(size, S);
whereas you do the same thing in D like this:
template hasLength(R) {
enum hasLength = isInputRange!R && is(typeof(R.init.length) == size_t);
}
I don't know how to enforce in Clay that the type of "size" is size_t; I'm sure there must be a way. And indeed the Clay version is shorter.
import myownlib.test.*;
Overall Clay's current offering (judging only by the docs) is very scarce compared to D2's. I found nothing in Clay that's sorely missing in D2, and conversely there's plenty in D2 that I'd sorely miss in Clay.
Clay looks a lot like the toy language I was working on before deciding to build on D: long on hope, short on bread and butter. In hindsight, I am happy with the decision to start with a language (D1) in which I could take for granted a lot of stuff.
Before teaching myself C++, I was terrified of the language too. Everyone said it's such a big language with many dark corners, and for the most part they're right. Then I /had/ to learn it for some coursework. I found the book C++ Primer to be very good. I abused all sorts of features of the language at the start, wrote tens of thousands of lines of code, and now I actually enjoy using the language for some tasks.
By analogy, cars and driving are scary too, but a healthy respect for the rules and best practices will usually get you to your destination safely.
If you go with C++ read Accelerated C++.
I don't know how open you are to using more than one text, but Jon Skeet's C# in Depth is about as canon as it gets. A second-term course where C# basics are already understood would be great for this text. I can't speak for a truly introductory book, however.
If you're fairly new, I think you should start something like Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches. You'll find this recommendation everywhere and for good reason. I personally was an peer reviewer of the 3rd edition and read it page-for-page slowly and provided a lot of feedback. It's a good book to get started with.
After that then move into the advanced tool making books like Learn PowerShell Toolmaking in a Month of Lunches.
Of course this just help get you started. You'll need to get a lot of practice with realistic projects to become familiar with how to build tools. I would highly recommend becoming very familiar with Git. There are a TON of tutorials out there (both web pages and YouTube videos).
Honestly to become a good toolmaker you'll need a lot of practice, but in terms of material these are a good source to get you started. Be patient and try to find small projects that you can grab onto. I would also recommend Windows PowerShell in Action for a more under-the-hood kind of view of how things work.
CLR via C# for a better understanding of the runtime you're working with.
C# in Depth for a deep dive into the language and it's features and their details of implementation.
I'd consider those two to be the primary intermediate texts.
Books are still the best way to learn C++! C++ Primer, 5th Ed. covers all the basics of C++11 from functions and standard library usage to OOP and templates. Effective C++ reinforces good practices and idiomatic C++ that, despite being written for C++98, is just as relevent today as it was then, some of its contents even more so than ever before. Then Effective Modern C++ then does the same for C++11 and C++14 features, building on top of what C++ Primer covers about C++11 and introducing the subtle changes brought about by C++14. This is my primary recommendation for learning modern C++ from the ground up.
But we live in the internet age! Best make use of it! So many wonderful talks from conferences such as CppCon, C++Now, Meeting C++, ACCU and Code::Dive are all available for public viewing. With regards to modern C++, Herb Sutter's CppCon 2014 Back to the Basics! Essentials of Modern C++ Style and CppCon 2016 Leak-Freedom in C++... By Default are great videos to watch. For more specific topics, here is a list of videos that I've seen and personally found engaging, educational, and worth my time to watch (multiple times!):
rand()Considered Harmful and What C++ Programmers Need to Know about Header<random>for random number generation,autoanddecltype(auto)(I miss Scott :'( ).There are also shows such as CppChat and CppCast where interesting events, projects, papers, and people related to C++ are brought up and discussed. There are so many interesting blogs to read!
And there is always people on IRC (##c++, ##c++-basic, and ##c++-general) and the Cpplang Slack Channel for live updates, discussions, debates, questions, answers, and/or just plain fun with a group of people that ranges from complete noobs who are learning the basics, to committee members and library authors whose names are known across the community. If you ever have a question or need help, these are the places to go and ask (/r/cpp_questions is nice too! :P ).
And finally, links to videos, blog posts, articles, papers, interesting Stack Overflow questions, almost everything mentioned above is constantly being shared at isocpp.org and on /r/cpp. Subscribe to both to get a constant stream of links to anything and everything about C++.
Edit: as for C++17 material, the standard is not technically completed/published yet, but that hasn't stopped the community from creating material about it! This paper lists all the changes from C++14 to C++17, with links to relevant papers, and this Git repo provides a simple "then, and now" comparisons of the major changes to the language. Talks describing the changes in breadth and in depth have been given at conferences, and blog posts have been written for a more textual description of the changes. C++17 is not a major update like C++11 was to C++98, but full of fixes, conveniences, more language flexibility and utility, and new toys to play with! If you have a solid foundation in C++11, C++14 and in turn C++17 should be relatively easy to pick up compared to the shift from classic (C++98) to modern C++.
TL;DR Learn C++11 the best you can. Once you are comfortable with C++11, the transition to C++14 will feel natural, and C++17 will be waiting just around the corner.
Hi PizzaPartify,
I believe that different companies/teams will place emphasis on different skills. When I was helping to hire software engineers for EA's motion capture studio, I liked to see candidates who showed a strong aptitude for engineering code to be maintainable. For me, this meant a familiarity with design patterns and software development processes (like Test Driven Development or Extreme Programming). In my department, much of our code was in C++ and Python. However, other departments would use languages like Java, C# or ActionScript - depending on the project.
It would be helpful to know what role you are applying to.
To answer your specific questions:
Regardless of the language you're working in, I would also recommend Design Patterns by the gang of four (http://www.amazon.ca/Design-Patterns-Elements-Reusable-Object-Oriented/dp/0201633612).
A game-specific recommendation is Game Engine Architecture by Jason Gregory (http://www.amazon.ca/Game-Engine-Architecture-Jason-Gregory/dp/1568814135). It doesn't matter if you intend to write an engine or not, it is immensely helpful to understand how they work.
I own all of the Game Programming Gems books but use them more as a reference library. The books above will be more helpful right now.
I hope that helps.
When I know that an interview is gona be technical - I run through Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets by van Linden. It's pretty dope - not boring and goes pretty deep on the low-level stuff.
http://www.blackwasp.co.uk/Tutorials.aspx
http://thenewboston.org/list.php?cat=15
http://www.robmiles.com/journal/2011/10/13/c-yellow-book-2011.html
http://www.headfirstlabs.com/books/hfcsharp/
http://csharpindepth.com/ (companion to http://www.amazon.com/Depth-Second-Edition-Jon-Skeet/dp/1935182471 )
Actually a more up to date book is C++ Template Metaprogramming by David Abrahams of Boost fame and Aleksey Gurtovoy. It uses the MPL extensively which implements quit a bit of the article if not all. It also describes FC++, Blitz++ and a few others. It implements a basic expression template system and even has an appendix on the Boost Preprocessor library.
I don't recommend starting out with that one though.
Also a good book, is C++ Templates . It's a little bit easier to start off with.
Read Rule #0 from C++ Coding Standards: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff.
Basically, it's the same advice /u/akciom gave (but hey -- it's good to have a reference by some experts in the field): Just be consistent within your project. Fretting and/or arguing over style is a waste of time. Afterall style is 'small stuff'. (Things like const correctness on the other hand are not small; good advice on these things for C can be easily found on the internet.)
I highly recommend The Design and Evolution of C++ if you want to learn about the original design decisions behind C++ that the current ISO committee seems to not care about in the slightest.
It's a bit dated but offers a tremendous amount of insight into why the language was made as it is.
Well it depends how much you want to learn, trying to learn all (or even a lot) of C++ or even just the topics covered in that book before your semester starts is insane. C++ is really complicated and takes many years to really get a grip on. If you're just trying to learn some of what's covered in an intro to C++ class this book will serve you well, and you definitely don't need to go through the whole thing to get an introduction to the language.
If you want a shorter/faster book there's Accelerated C++ which is also in the wiki. I recommended C++ Primer since you mentioned you only had minimal programming experience. Accelerated C++ is aimed at folks who are familiar with programming but not C++, so it's faster.
Edit: I missed your mention of moderate experience with Java, so Accelerated C++ would probably be a fine choice as well. Although it doesn't cover the new C++11 features.
You only need one book: The C Programming Language, 2nd Edition.
However, I would also recommend you own C: A Reference Manual, Fifth Edition, especially for the C99 coverage. Not needed immediately, by any means, but well worth having - the reference section of K&R will serve you well for quite a while for any C89/C90 coding.
A fine supplemental book is C Programming FAQs. Much of it is available online as the comp.lang.c Frequently Asked Questions, but the book adds material and polish.
Once you're ready for advanced C knowledge (I'd guess after at least a year of substantial C programming, but only you know when you're ready and interested enough), you really want to read Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets, by Peter van der Linden.
There are some other very good books that have more or less direct applicability to C programming. The two I would call out are The Practice of Programming and Programming Pearls. Both worth far in excess of the asking price.
Good luck, and welcome to the deep end of the pool. The water's fine.
K & R and Expert c programming are the best books I have read on programming. http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298
If you fully understand c then you will better understand how computers work and be able to debug issues in other languages where details are hidden in the language libraries and syntax
I picked up Accelerated C++ and it's, by far, one of the best books I've read. It's terse and provides an amazing amount of detail for its size.
Amazon
Scott Meyers Effective C++
Or you could get the 3rd edition:
http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876/
with 5 more ways to improve your C++
This book was written by the author of the C++ programming language, and it's designed for a student to begin learning to program using C++.
C++ isn't an easy language, and it's not one that I'd usually recommend as a first language to learn....but it's doable.
I highly recommend Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA. Newer versions have a different author, who I'm not familiar with. Walkenbach was pretty damn good with what he covered and how he covered it.
Accelerated C++. Unfortunately, there isn't a C++11 update, but this really is the best way to get into C++ if you are already a programmer.
> Also, is there a cpp equivalent to lwjgl?
Dunno - what is "lwjgl"?
Introduction to Algorithms by CLRS
TAOCP is a waste of time and money; it's more for adorning your bookshelf than for actually reading. Pretty much anyone who suggests TAOCP and is less than 55 years old is just parroting Standard Wisdom™.
Godel, Escher, Bach is a nice book, but it's not as intellectually deep in today's world as it was when first published; a lot of the memes in GEB have been thoroughly absorbed into nerd culture at this point and the book should be enjoyed more as a work of art than expecting it to be particularly informative (IMO).
If you're interested in compilers, I recommend Engineering a Compiler by Cooper & Torczon. Same thing as TAOCP applies to people who suggest the Dragon Book. The Dragon Book is still good, but it focuses too much on parser generators and doesn't really cover enough of the other modern good stuff. (Yes, even the new edition.)
As far as real programming goes, K&R's The C Programming Language is still unmatched for its quality of exposition and brevity, but these days I'd strongly suggest picking up some Python or something before diving into C. And as a practical matter, I'd suggest learning some C++ from Koenig & Moo's Accelerated C++ before learning straight C.
Sipser's Introduction to the Theory of Computation is a good theory book, but I'd really suggest getting CLRS before Sipser. CLRS is way more interesting IMHO.
It's a form of metaprogramming — writing programs that run at compile time rather than runtime. Metaprogramming in C++ is a little strange at first because operations don't primarily occur on values, but on types. A metafunction might take a type as an input and generate a result type as an output, for instance. The type system of the language is the execution environment for metaprograms, and hence templates factor into it heavily. A template type parameter can stand for any type, which makes it sort of the equivalent of a variable in metaprogramming.
SFINAE is a very powerful tool used extensively in C++ template metaprogramming. It stands for Substitution Failure Is Not An Error. (The term was coined by the authors of the book C++ Templates: The Complete Guide. It's not an official term in the standard, although the standard of course mandates the behavior that the acronym is describing.) To understand what that means, you need to understand how overload resolution works.
In very broad terms, whenever you call a function, there might be multiple functions with that name. This includes very straightforward overloading:
void f(int x)
{
// ...
}
void f(long x)
{
// ...
}
But it can also include more complicated things, such as:
template <typename T>
void g(T x)
{
// ...
}
void g(double x)
{
// ...
}
The first
g()is a template function that can be instantiated with any type forT. So what happens when you callg(3.5)? The standard lays out a series of steps that happen, called overload resolution.The first thing that happens is to build a list of candidate functions. This can be trickier than you might imagine, because of things like implicit conversions. If there's a function with signature
void f(Widget w)and I callf(42), there might be an implicit conversion that allows constructing aWidgetfrom anint, for example. So the compiler chugs through all possible functions, using criteria like the number of arguments (which is of course affected by things like default arguments and variadic functions), and the types of arguments to arrive at a list of viable functions.It's entirely possible that there is more than one viable function. In the
g(3.5)example, both are viable. The standard specifies a series of criteria used to rank viable functions. One function can be more viable than another, for example if calling it involves fewer implicit conversions, and a bunch of other details like that. (In the example above,void g(double)is more viable than the template function, because it's an exact match for the argument3.5.) Anyway, there is a long and complicated series of things that are considered but in the end a most viable function is chosen.Finally, if the most viable function is a template function, then the template arguments are deduced, and the deduced values are substituted into the declaration. For example, if I called
g(12), thenTwould be deduced asint.intwill be substituted forTin the declaration, formingvoid g(int x). That's legal, so everything is fine. The template function is instantiated (Tis substituted in the definition) and called, and everything is fine.But what if the result of that substitution of
Tinto the function's declaration results in something that's invalid? Consider:struct Foo {
typedef int fonzie;
...
}
template <typename T>
typename T::fonzie h(T x);
In order for this declaration to be valid,
T::fonziehas to be a valid expression. (typenameis necessary here to tell the compiler thatfonzieis a member type. See this page for an explanation.) Clearly if I try to pass an instance ofFoo, that will be the case, but not otherwise. For example, if I try to callh(42), the typeint::fonzieis nonsense.That's the "substitution failure" part of SFINAE. The "is not an error" part means that this does not halt compilation. Rather, this overload is merely removed from the list of viable functions and the next best match is tried. (If there is no next best match, then that really is an error.)
We can harness this, by intentionally causing substitution failures. That allows us to say "don't consider this for overload resolution", which is in effect a way of steering things, of specifying some logic which is executed at compile time that decides which function is called based on certain criteria.
Here's how
std::enable_ifis implemented. Start with a template class:template<bool B, typename T = void>
struct enable_if {};
This has two template parameters. The first,
Bis a non-type parameter, whereas the second one,Tis a type parameter. It has a default value ofvoid. Now we provide a partial specialization:template<typename T>
struct enable_if<true, T> { typedef T type; };
If I try to instantiate
enable_ifwith the first template parameter equal totrue, then the result is the above specialization, which is a class that defines a single member type namedtype. Otherwise, we get the non-specialized class above which is just the empty class. Is it beginning to click?enable_if&lt;true, T&gt;::typeevaluates toT.enable_if&lt;false, T&gt;::typeis a substitution failure, because there is no such member namedtype. If this is used as part of the declaration of a function, we can cause that function to not participate in overload resolution based on some true or false condition.This is meant to be combined with other metafunctions, such as type traits. For instance,
std::is_integral&lt;T&gt;::valueis a static member that'strueifTis an integer type (char,short,int,long,long long, etc.), otherwise it'sfalse.template <typename T>
typename std::enable_if<std::is_integral<T>::value, void>::type func(T x);
If
func()is called with an integral type, thenstd::is_integral&lt;T&gt;::valueistrue, which means we have:template <typename T>
typename std::enable_if<true, void>::type func(T x);
We said earlier that if the first parameter to
enable_ifis true, then the second parameter is passed through to the member typedef::type, so this is equivalent totemplate <typename T>
void func(T x);
This is a plain old function returning
voidas long asTis deduced as an integer type. If it's not, then this is a substitution failure and this function becomes non-viable and does not participate in overload resolution. We could supply another overload that would apply in that case; it could either apply universally, or it could have conditions of its own, such as only accepting types that meet some other condition. This is the equivalent of an if/else or if/else if — we've written a meta-program that says "if the type is such and such, call this, otherwise call this."I hope it's obvious that this is extremely powerful. It's used extensively in the implementation of the standard library, as well as numerous third party libraries like Boost.
If you want to learn more about C++ template metaprogramming, there was recently a talk at CppCon by Walter E. Brown titled Modern Template Metaprogramming - A Compendium. Here's part I, here's part II, and here are the slides (PDF). You can also read the book mentioned above, which is the definitive reference for this stuff, although it has not yet been updated to cover the new goodies in C++11 and C++14 such as variadic templates.
There is also "Effective STL" if you're a big STL user.
Basic:
C++ Primer
Effective C++
Effective STL
Advanced:
More Effective C++
C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules
C++ Templates The Complete Guide
Large Scale C++ Design
If you're looking for books that contain info on auto, lambdas, and any other new C++11 stuff, you're going to have to wait a little bit, as the standard is still very new.
If you're looking to get started though, I would suggest something like Effective C++ which contains a bunch of specific things you can do to write better C++ code. For learning the language, something like Programming - Principles and Practices using C++: it's an intro to programming textbook that focuses entirely on C++. I know you're not a beginner ;) but I've heard really good things about that book.
I think you partially need to decide what area you want to focus on. Generally if you're going to delve into more advanced materials they should also be geared towards the in depth aspects of a specific technology, methodology, or problem.
I'll add a +1 for the design patterns suggestion. The Head First book is an option, but here is the book that I've got that is quite good. There's always the gang of 4 book, and although it is the "design patterns bible" its also a bit dry.
I'm also going to suggest Mark Seemann's Dependency Injection book. Although it is about DI and inversion of control containers, he also really focuses on SOLID design that makes DI more effective.
If you don't know what SOLID design principles are, then I'd brush up on that.
Turning specifically to C#, there's Jon Skeet's C# in Depth and also Jeremy Richter's CLR via C#. Both are great books are focused on roughly the same thing, understanding some of the inner workings of of the C# language, but they each approach it in a slightly different way. Although the CLR book came out before, C# in Depth seems to be a bit more highly regarded. I'd take a look at the TOC of each and see which one interests you more.
Outside of that, I'd say make sure that you really understand concepts like generics, reflection, and maybe even dive into understanding some MSIL.
The book "Expert C programming: Deep C Secrets" link is pretty good with that kind of stuff. Also there are a ton of jokes so it's not a dry read
Steps to build your own engine from scratch with no knowledge:
Note: Most people who decide to put together a voxel engine take about 2 years from inception. At the end of the two years, they will have a library they could use to create a game. They've also already made it through the first 4 steps when they start.
Without a degree program to solidify the concepts, I suspect that the first 4 steps will take at least 2-3 years: about 10-20 hours per week each week.
excellent post, thanks, it's always enlightening to get historical perspective like this
in a similar vein I recommend Deep C Secrets which is overflowing with historical anecdotes about the evolution of C and Unix systems
fair enough, I shall tell you my favorite C programming book then
deep c secrets
The correct answer to:
Q. Should I learn C or C++ first?
Is:
A. Yes.
WARNING: Highly Opinionated Analysis of C vs C++
I see a lot of people recommending one way but no one offering an analysis of BOTH the Pro's & Con's.
I've been using C++ since ~1990. I've briefly worked on a PS3 C++ compiler when I worked for Sony. I've seen 2 major problems over the years with C++ programmers:
1. People don't exercise discipline and restraint in K.I.S.S.
They use (and abuse) every language feature because they can. There is this tendency to over-engineer even the simplest things. Take a look at this complete clusterfuck of CRC in the Boost library.
1109 lines of over-engineered C++ crap for a simple CRC32 function instead of a mere 25 lines of code!?!?! The C version would:
The trade-off would be is that it is less flexible, but WHEN was the last time you needed to use a custom CRC polynomial!?!? One would instead use a different algorithm such as MD5, SHA, etc. that:
This excellent SO on hashing is but one example of focusing on the big picture.
2. People lack a basic understanding of the cost let alone the implementation of C++ expressions.
I've seen people stick a virtual function inside an inner loop and wonder why their performance is crap. I've seen people fail to grasp a basic understanding of pointers. I've seen people not understand memory management and how to guarantee zero memory leaks. I've seen people spend more time on writing an "über" template and waste hours debugging that instead of just writing something in 1/10 of the time and move on.
IMO, due to the bloated, over-excessive verbose nature of C++ it is for these reason that I strongly recommend a beginner learn C first and then learn C++. You'll have a better understanding of why C++ is designed the way it is, what the design trade-offs are/were, what C++ hacks are, and how to best use the languages to their potential.
However, this is ignoring the benefits and disadvantages of the Pro's/Con's of why one would learn C++ or C first.
Learn C++ first
Learn C first
{{With that said there are numerous C++ books I would recommend to ALL C++ programmers. They are sorted from beginner to expert:
If you can get only one book, get the The C++ Programming Language.
Even though Bruce's book is ancient he keeps it simple and is a fun easy read. Remember this is before C++98 where the language is much simpler.
You can find it online for free
Lastly, just because you can, doesn't imply you should. Use balanced C++ and you'll be fine.
Best book to learn C++ in my opinion is Accelerated C++: Practical Programming by Example (350 pages). Right from the start, it teaches people to use STL containers and other C++ constructs, instead of teaching "C with classes" like many other books (including Thinking in C++). Unfortunately, it is outdated so you will have to learn about new features of the language. You can use A Tour of C++ for that(180 pages).
If you have the time and will to learn moder C++ from the start, then I would recommend C++ Primer. Similar in approach to Accelerated C++ but longer(970 pages).
Andrei Alexandrescu's "Modern C++ Design". It was so mind-expanding and well-written, not to mention useful, I was reading it for 2-3 hours a day until I finished it.
If you're serious about C++ programming and using the STL intelligently, I highly recommend getting a copy of Scott Meyers' Effective STL. He discusses exactly what you're asking about, e.g. when is a
std::listbetter (or worse) than astd::vector, or how is astd::vector&lt;bool&gt;different than astd::bitset.Actually all three of his books (Effective C++ and More Effective C++) are great reading if you haven't done so.
As for your question, if you need a thing to hold an array of something,
std::vectoris usually the go-to container for that.For the fundamentals of "thinking in C++" as opposed to other languages I always recommend Effective C++
And I guess if you're in visual studio 12 make sure you're not doing anything in C++11 as I don't know any game studio or library using that as the standard yet even though it's an option in visual studio.
I personally thought Pro C# and the .NET 4 Platform was pretty good, but most people would turn you to C# In-Depth simply because it's by Jon Skeet, which is sound reasoning in and of itself.
The two I keep on my desk:
Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA by John Walkenbach
Professional Excel Development by Rob Bovey
The second one is more advanced, but indispensable if you want professional quality applications in VBA.
This book is a good resource for making sense of a lot of the spec. I'd read that (or something like it) and understand it thoroughly before trying to interpret the spec yourself.
Check out Bjarne's book:
(https://www.amazon.com/Design-Evolution-C-Bjarne-Stroustrup/dp/0201543303)
For a book-length rationale/apology for why C++ is the way it is. I think C++ language is shooting off it's feet bit by bit with the way they design things: in a couple standards the language will be so complex developers will be cargo-cult-copying-boiler-plate over most things like this.
If you haven't read these books already, what are you doing, go and read them now.
Effective C++
More Effective C++
Effective STL
Effective Modern C++
I was also first a C programmer and only started learning cpp later. I have found this book to be excellent:
Accelerated Cpp book
it is intended to complete novices, which you are not. However I think it is still perfect for you because I think that it introduces Cpp the way it should be and not as a C extension. After you are comfortable with the std I would suggest you move to good practices books (effective c++ etc) and/or design patterns books
You can check out: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/
It's going to be unlikely, you would have to plan the curriculum yourself and get quality books/resources to teach you the material.
Books like http://www.amazon.com/Accelerated-C-Practical-Programming-Example/dp/020170353X
Offer a well planned introduction course into C++
So this is what I would consider the "Core" reading list for anyone interested in programming games. None of this is really game specific though. These are just the fundamentals you need in order to be an effective Software Engineer.
Learn about...
C++ syntax: Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup
Software Engineering: Code Complete by Steve McConnell
C++ gems: Effective C++ by Scott Meyer
Software Teams: The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
Why we love Joel: Joel on Software by Joel Spolsky
Problem Solving: The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt
Common Code Solutions: Head First Design Patterns by Eric Freeman
Pearls!: Programming Pearls by Jon Bentley
I'll do a supplemental on this in a few days that dives into specific topics related to engine development. All of this is generic enough that it will help you regardless of what you do. You'll notice that very little here is actually language specific. Almost all of this is about the art of making software and process of working with a team. These 8 books alone will make you think about making software in a whole new way.
I'll start off with some titles that might not be so apparent:
Unexpected Fundamentals
These 2 books provide much needed information about making reusable patterns and objects. These are life saving things! They are not language dependent. You need to know how to do these patterns, and it shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to implement them in your chosen language.
&nbsp;
Good General book
&nbsp;
This book is great if you're going to make a browser based game
&nbsp;
General Knowledge books
&nbsp;
Provide a working moveable 3D model with C++ and DirectX, Very cool.
&nbsp;
More general game base building
&nbsp;
Working product results books, little if any modification needed
Releasing in a couple months (hopefully) 2 Very good books using C++ to develop by.
&nbsp;
Not presented in the best manner but still noteworthy:
&nbsp;
I used to love XNA...but now it's not feasible for commercial development. If you're a beginner to game design...starting out with XNA might actually be useful. It's easy to pickup and put out a working product. XNA is C#
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Working product books, modification needed to make run on current systems
Provides a working FPS game in C++ on DirectX 9. Good for some starting out knowledge for an FPS
&nbsp;
Good for 3D Terrain rendering in DX9...however much of this is outdated...some concepts still apply, and it's not the worst idea to see a working example.
&nbsp;
TLDR: Click links starting at top, buy, read, profit
It's good to hear you didn't pay money for this book. If you take a look on Amazon, you can see that the book has 2.5 star rating from 14 reviews. Not a good rating, and not a well known book at all from the very small number of reviews.
Books like this are aimed at the "passerby" market. By this I mean that they're for people who see a catchy title (for dummies!) or an impressive claim (learn C++ in 24 hours!) and think "Oh, I could do that! Programmers make a lot of money, right?" But these books tend to be so terribly written and/or cover material in such a glossy manner that, by the end, the reader has actually learned very little, if anything at all.
An example of a good book for new C++ programmers is C++ Primer. As you can see it is a much better selling book, and the reviews are much better overall. More importantly, the authors are experts in their field, having either been involved in the development of the original C++ language, C++ standardization, C++ compilers, or some combination of these.
Stephen R. Davis' claim to fame seems to be writing these crappy "For Dummies" books along with that "Learn C++ in a Weekend" book.
All this said, while C++ Primer and others are certainly good books for C++ beginners, C++ itself is not considered to be a very beginner friendly language. You can certainly do it, lot's of people start with C++, however if you find that you're struggling or having trouble with seemingly simple things, you may want to head over to the FAQ and read about the different ways people start programming.
C++ Templates: The Complete Guide is recommended for deepening your knowledge about templates.
> if this is the worst of things he won't change on consider yourself lucky; there are loads of teams out there dealing with much worse
Agree with this response. I think it's telling that in Coding Standards the very first section is titled "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff". Professional developers should be able to read and understand a wide variety of conventions.
Developers have a bizarre ability to argue forever about trivial things like curly brace placement and naming conventions.
It's going to be hard, make no mistake about it. Most places won't want to interview you just based on the fact that you haven't worked for 10 years after graduating. There's going to be some level of disappointment and you'll need to be ready for it.
If your knowledge of C++ comes from school, it's likely at a basic level. Improving on C++ is generally harder than just learning .Net, Java or python.
But if you do feel comfortable with C++, I would suggest getting a more advanced level book rather than relying on online tutorials. My favorite one is Effective C++ from Scott Meyers. Try finding a used version to save money.
You will also need to meet recruiters and be confident but open with them. This is a trial and error with a low hit rate but I would suggest doing it anyway.
You could also sign up for a coursera or udemy course on web development and start creating a project. Make sure you get a github account to showcase your web development skills to any potential employer.
I've posted this before but I'll repost it here:
Now in terms of the question that you ask in the title - this is what I recommend:
Job Interview Prep
Junior Software Engineer Reading List
Read This First
Fundementals
Understanding Professional Software Environments
Mentality
History
Mid Level Software Engineer Reading List
Read This First
Fundementals
Software Design
Software Engineering Skill Sets
Databases
User Experience
Mentality
History
Specialist Skills
In spite of the fact that many of these won't apply to your specific job I still recommend reading them for the insight, they'll give you into programming language and technology design.
I just looked through all my books. It's actually hard to find a book with large segments of good code. This is probably the worst book when it comes to good c++:
http://www.amazon.com/Numerical-Recipes-The-Scientific-Computing/dp/0521750334/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_15
The best is probably scott meyer's effective c++. It gives small sections of good code and all 55 tips are gold (or silver)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321334876/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
Don't be too hard on yourself, C++ is a tough language. Its a good sign that you are struggling, it means that you are human. You might want to take a look at Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++. It was written by the creator of the language and its good for beginners.
Good luck!
C++ Primer Plus
When I first started programming, I started with C++. C++ Primer Plus was my primary learning tool, and worked out great. I'm not a full time developer (mentioned as proof that it worked and I didn't wash out of programming)
Two books that I thought were good:
Pro ASP.NET MVC
Professional ASP.NET
Powershell in a month of lunches (as you've already seen), Powershell Toolmaking in a month of Lunches as a follow up looks good. Check out the sidebar of /r/PowerShell, Master-PowerShell was helpful for me, but ymmv. There's also the Hey, Scripting Guy! blog.
The things that always help me out when I'm just getting started is how do I find help, and how do I find commands/functions.
Finding commands
get-command [verb]
and
get-help [command]
also, check out get-help get-help, there are quite a few useful flags attached with get-help like -examples, which is really nice when you're just learning PowerShell.
It's pretty early for me, so this is just kind of a quick brain dump and I'm not entirely sure the coffee has hit my brain, yet, so I hope this helps.
That's an interesting point. I can't remember seeing books that target experienced devs that use exercises. They tend to say "here's how this works."
http://www.amazon.com/Depth-3rd-Edition-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X
^ I don't think there are exercises, but I like Jon's writing style and his technical knowledge is beyond reproach.
Did you solve all exercises through?
Because:
Read != Learn
---------------
If you did all that.
You still have to fast through C: A Reference Manual by Harbison & Steele
Because...
K&R covers barely 40% of C features and the ones it covers it doesn't go deep enough on its proprieties!
CARM do!
>PS: You will not need to [re]solve historical C bugs if you read more!
I like Harbison and Steele
https://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298
Expert C Programming
Right. But don't be so quick to judge. =)
The issue is that there isn't anything much better out there. A lot of the issues with teaching C is C itself.
C it a very simple language, maybe too simple. A lot of the safety in C is difficult because C doesn't give you anything to get that right. The solution to this is being very good at it, know what you're doing and avoid the problems. Modularity barely is possible in C (it is only through simple means). Dynamicity is a pain. All of these things that other languages simply support out of the box, you have to go through major hops in C so you get them.
From what I understand, most uses of C today only exist when nothing else is applicable. That is, when they really need the sort of benefits you get from using C, because the language itself isn't that great.
You could write whole books on getting modularity right in C, on getting dynamicity right in C, on getting security right in C, and so forth. And in fact there are:
It goes on and on and on. The C standard library is extremely thin (in comparison to everything out there). How can K&R2 teach you how to write highly sophisticated programs if the most advanced stuff in the standard library is sorting? I'm being a bit simplistic in this argument, but it's not so much distant from the truth.
This doesn't sound like 'advanced C', this just sounds like having low level knowledge of certain things. You'll probably have better luck searching for books on kernel development if you want to know about the linux kernel for example, or compiler dev for compiler dev, or machine learning for machine learning etc.
Doesn't get much simpler than C, past the basics programming better C just involves expanding your mental model of the cpu - i.e. understanding that memory isn't just RAM, but also your CPU has caches helps when optimising code.
That being said, I picked up this from the library and read the first couple chapters. Seemed quite good, and gave you a nice overview of some of the idiosyncracies of C! https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Expert-C-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/0131774298
For c++ at least http://www.amazon.com/The-Design-Evolution-Bjarne-Stroustrup/dp/0201543303 this goes over pretty much all the early design desisions, including why they picked that idiom.
My own opinion is that it doesn't matter so much what books you use, especially with Google available to answer questions and provide supplementary examples. Some might be a bit clearer or a bit less, but you're going to get to the same place if you keep writing code and practicing those skills regardless of what you're reading.
If I wanted to learn to program in a given language these days, I'd probably just Google for "<language> tutorial" and start going...maybe bounce among a couple until I find one that's clear. The books I learned C and C++ with were written decades ago and are probably out-of-print.
I'm very dubious that college is the most effective way to learn a language. My experience with college classes is that a class will teach you general concepts, and you more-or-less pick up the language yourself (you'd need to to get the assignments done). Computer science courses will teach you things that are nice to know, like time analysis, but they aren't necessarily the best way to get someone up and running and writing code. I personally think that people tend to do better when they get to explore the things that they're unclear on. The professor might lead you to some important concepts that you might miss, but you don't need college classes to pick up programming, and I'd encourage people not to wait for said classes and hope that they just transform them into a programmer.
Note also that there are a lot of ways to program in C++, and these produce very different-looking programs.
const...and using iostreams).newanddeleteshow up.Throw in templates and the STL showing up or not showing up, and you've got a fair number of "languages" that fall under "C++".
My only recommendation is the one I use for trying to learn any new subject that I want to know well: get at least two books or sources on the subject and go through them one after the other, since you'll probably get a better idea of the material after having seen it in two different lights (and if one description of a particular point isn't clear, you have a second one to bounce to).
There is one difference among books that I would say is meaningful, and that's that some books combine teaching C++ and learning to program and others deal just with C++ as a language and are intended for programmers (sometimes programmers that already know the language). If you want specific book recommendations, you might want to give a sort of idea of what background you're coming from (e.g. do you program at all yet?), because the sort of thing that, say, a junior C++ programmer would use to brush up on his C++ is a bit different from what I think would probably make a good "introduction to C++ for non-programmers" text.
The last "brush-up" book I bought was Stroustrop's The C++ Programming Language, which taught me that I didn't know the language as well as I thought I had. This is probably behind-the-times enough now that something else is better for brush-up. If you want a "beginning programming" book, looking for something that has "learn" and "c++" in the title is probably a good heuristic.
This might suffice
> Standard C++ and the design and programming styles it supports owe a debt to the functional languages, especially to ML. Early variants of ML's type deduction mechanisms were (together with much else) part of the inspiration of templates. Some of the more effective functional programming techniques were part of the inspiration of the STL and the use of function objects in C++. On the other hand, the functional community missed the boat with object-oriented programming, and few of the languages and tools from that community benefited from the maturing experience of large-scale industrial use.
I remember that he discussed the idea in the C++ programming lanugage book, but I cannot find the right passage on the interwebs.
Accelerated C++ by Koenig & Moo is a very good book that'll get you up to speed in no time.
I think the first confusion here is that the language is a entity in the construction of a program. Does the type of a house that is built depend on what type of hammer the carpenter used to put up the walls? Or what kind of wrench a plumber used to put together the piping? Sure, the carpenter or plumber could've used a crowbar to do their job, but was it the right tool for the right job?
The right tool to build an Android app is Java. If you need better performance, and you don't need Google APIs, you can include C or C++ to further improve performance at the cost of added complexity.
There are a lot of different abstractions to add the ability to use other languages on the platform, but this comes at the cost of performance, and added potential points of failure (more abstractions = more potential bugs not caused by the coder.)
Heavy number crunching (especially on a RISC architecture) may push the device to its limits. Do yourself a favor and learn how to use the right tool for the right job. This book is both entertaining and informative, and this book will get you started in on C++ in a short amount of time.
C++ is the inspiration for Java, and the creation of Java is what caused C# into being. As such, the syntax for all of these languages are tightly woven between each other. I wouldn't doubt that within 15 minutes of light reading on Java you'll be up and running in its entirety.
C++, while being a slightly more complicated beast, isn't inherently an overly complicated one. The Object-Oriented concepts are all there to be leveraged.
While you say you're not a professional programmer; I think you'll find that broadening the languages you do learn will improve your ability to convey your thoughts and concisely implement them.
Best of luck!
I'd reccomend Accelerated C++
http://www.amazon.com/Accelerated-Practical-Programming-Example-Depth/dp/020170353X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1240536555&amp;sr=8-1
"Modern C++ Design" by https://www.reddit.com/user/andralex might not be quite so modern anymore, but it does a good job of presenting the basic building blocks for TMP, especially if you want to do complex stuff with types. Many of the things presented there have since gone into the standard, but it's good to know what goes on in the background.
Grab a book, find a project. Bunker down and nail it out.
I have a simular background; I learnt AS3, went onto JS/HTML, c#, java, python, c/c++. For my C, I picked up unix networking and for c++ I picked up modern c++ design.
From there, it's just a matter of getting dirty.
These are my standard recommendations to anyone who wants to learn the C language these days:
https://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Modern-Approach-2nd/dp/0393979504/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1537025256&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=king+c+language&amp;dpID=41%252BbFKtFHjL&amp;preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&amp;dpSrc=srch
https://www.amazon.com/Reference-Manual-Samuel-P-Harbison/dp/013089592X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1537025419&amp;sr=8-1-spell&amp;keywords=herbison+steele
The first one is a great book to learn C from the basics to the details of the standard library, and it's updated to cover the C99 Standard. The second is more of a reference that is very useful once you get more experienced, it covers C99 as well, it is basically the C Standard document rewritten for humans : ) My students find the first one very complete and full of good exercises and explanations. Not everyone has bought the second, those who have find it invaluable.
The best book on plain C is "C: A Reference Manual" by Harbison and Steele. The K&R book is too ambiguous and out-of-date.
[See here:] (https://smile.amazon.com/Reference-Manual-Samuel-P-Harbison/dp/013089592X)
That said, Go is powerful, easy-to-learn, and easy-to-use. Highly recommended.
dunno, but maybe read this book next: http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298
My favorite was Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets, aka the fish book.
It's very well written, and has an almost conversational tone (and some jokes) despite its technical nature.
You could take a look at The Design and Evolution of C++.
Effective C++
More Effective C++
and Effective STL
To date, the best programming book that I've read is C Programming Language by K&R. It's a pretty complete text on the C language. It is more than sufficient to enable the reader to be a good C programmer, yet it is still entirely digestable by new programmers. It is 274 pages. There are some recent gems, like Programming Clojure (304 pages). However, these days the norm seems to be more like Applying Domain-Driven Design and Patterns: With Examples in C# and .NET (576 pages), Real World Haskell (710 pages), and The C++ Programming Language (1030 pages). These books are all good. They just are hard to carry around and hard to hold while reading for long periods. I'm looking for good programming books that are short; an upper limit of roughly 325 pages. Post links to your favorites!
Accelerated C++
There ya go. Now you don't have to take an entire class to learn C++.
Accelerated C++
Pick up a copy of Accelerated C++. It starts at the very beginning and takes a more modern approach to teaching C++ than a lot of the other books on the market.
It's part of the "C++ in-depth series" that also has a bunch of other great titles like Sutter's Exceptional C++.
I got my start by taking AP CS in high school. However, I had already gone to college and that was a while ago, so I read some books on the commute to/from work.
Initially, I read Sams Teach Yourself PHP, Mysql and Apache all in one to learn PHP.
Immediately afterward, I read Murach's Java Se 6 and Beginning Java Objects to learn Java.
Most recently, I read a portion of C++ Primer Plus, but got very sick of it. I've read most of Accelerated C++
I have a few other books on C# to read when the time comes to actually write code.
By the time I had read all of the above, I felt pretty confident on how to structure a program, regardless of language. As such, I was able to pick up Python and JavaScript quite easily just by reading online documentation at Python.org and W3Schools. When I'm writing a web app, I'll rely pretty heavily on PHP's and MySQL's online documentation to help me with whatever syntax quibbles I may have.
I still want to read Game Coding Complete and I'll probably want to find a few resources on programming within XCode.
They all tend to follow the same programming paradigms, to be honest. Java did a good job in getting me into an OOP mindset and C/C++ did a good job at helping me think about how to program things without layer of abstraction. Once I learned these concepts, it was pretty easy to get started with a new language. Programming in PHP can be super sloppy, but taking what I learned from other languages, I'm usually able to write fairly clean code in PHP (especially when I learned how to use classes).
I wouldn't recommend all of the books above, to be honest. I didn't have much ability to do online training at the time and compiled lists of books weren't nearly as useful at the time, so I relied mostly on Amazon book reviews. I'm sure you can find a few choice books on each language you want to learn and go that way. If you were to read books, I think Accelerated C++ is a good book, but works best if you already have some experience programming. I remember like Beginning Java Objects more than Murach's, though both are great as references (which is why they're both still in my bookshelf). C++ Primer Plus spends too much time teaching C and not enough time teaching C++ (you spend pages upon pages learning about C-style strings, aka char arrays, rather than just using the String Class, but I digress).
Ultimately, I could read a bunch about a language, but I never truly learned the language until I started writing in it. I've written a handful of programs just as proofs of concepts and I recommend you do the same while learning any language.
I just went through Accelerated C++ by Koenig and Moo. It helped me learn most of the basic ideas from strings and pointers to polymorphism and template classes. Very well written, though I did need to google a few things and ask people I knew sometimes. I haven't done any online courses. I think I will work on personal projects using C++ from now on to learn, and google things to fill in the gaps.
Accelerated C++ was made for that purpose. Most of the low reviews are beginners complaining that they couldn't follow, or complaining about the "paper quality" (mine is fine).
If you'd like to take another stab at C++, I recommend Accelerated C++.
Grab a copy of Accelerated C++ and give it a few hours. You should know whether C++ is for you.
C++ is a complicated, technical language. I'd recommend hitting the books for it. Learning C++ properly will teach you a lot about almost any language.
Accelerated C++ is the place to start if you don't know how any of the syntax works (pointers, const, templates, etc). Read a bit of it and write some C++.
When you've written some files and feel comfortable in C++'s syntax, read Effective C++. It will teach you good practice with many points from it transferring over to other languages.
I've been using Accelerated C++ (you can find pdfs of it pretty easily if you don't want to buy it). It seems to be serving me well so far.
If you want to learn, then pick up a book and start studying. Don't just post about it on a forum. There are resources available that describe good books to pick up for C# or C++, but I'll save you the trouble and recommend you Accelerated C++.
This one is very good indeed.
I think you'll get more feedback if you ask your questions as precise as you can. The term "to show" for example doesn't make it clear if it's related to printing a number or if it's more related to manipulating strings. There are many Websites about learning C++, but also many good books. (I like C++ Primer.)
C++ Primer is excellent.
(NOT C++ PRIMER PLUS OH DEAR GOD STAY AWAY)
Sorry, it was a lighthearted comment - I just read it in this book yesterday and thought I'd share :-D
If I understand correctly, you're correct, as far as the programmer is concerned, it will operate much like a header file. The tooling and compiler, however, won't have to do text inclusion on EVERYTHING.
I don't want to say anything I'd regret, my standard-ese isn't great, but it does look like, once everything is put together, you'd just replace #include <stdio.h> with import std.io, get intellisense that doesn't take 14 hours to read all your headers, eat up 8gb of RAM, and run your hard drive at 100% :-)
These are books I read many years ago, they can be helpful but may be dated and will not include newer features. But as an introduction they worked well.
Thinking in C++ Voume 1 and 2 by Bruce Eckel
https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Vol-Introduction-Standard-2nd/dp/0139798099/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-C-2-Practical-Programming/dp/0130353132/ref=pd_sbs_14_1
And Scott Meyers
Effective C++ - https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876/ref=pd_sbs_14_2
Effective STL - https://www.amazon.com/Effective-STL-Specific-Standard-Template/dp/0201749629
There's OO design, and there's particulars as to how to implement things in C++. I'm totally with unapersson as to, that the Os you make are as often conveniences or design helpers as representing real world objects. Ie that it's implementation objects. I don't remember how much OO design advice Effective C++ has, but it's a good book to get someone to intermediate C++ programmer. C++ Coding Standards by Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu talks at a fast clip about a lot of taste and design issues; I haven't looked at the 3rd edition of Eff. C++ but, from earlier editions, the difference is that Coding Standards is more dense, and sophisticated; Eff. C++ more basic (from what I can see, Coding Standards does cover the same material as Eff C++, but in a very compressed form, only the most minimal discussion; maybe not what you want when you're seeing the material for the first time.
As for pure OO design, I've heard that straight-up Grady Booch is still the best, but I have no experience of it.
I will say, if you want to be good at C++, you'll have to spend money on books (but get your company to buy them perhaps - compared to programmer time, books are free), and time on reading them; there are a lot of best-practices, technicalities and real pitfalls that are not immediately obvious.
edit:
> Also, should I be studying data structures/algorithms in unison with OOP?
Definitely. Have you learned the basics, stack, tree, queue, hash tables (or set, map, vector, unordered_set, unordered_map)? You /must/ know these. (priority_queue and list too, less so maybe.) If you can though I'd read (somehow) about other data structures, spatial ones especially in your case; they can really make your program more efficient and thus able to do more.
edit edit:
I have to say, the above books are for long-lasting code; probably for games your best bet is to look at how other programmers write their games (smaller, simpler, even in other languages - it can be hard to understand large, sophisticated codebases) and, just the necessary experience you gain from writing your own.
Good advice. I would add both the C++ FAQ Lite and the C++ FQA Lite to the resources.
I also rather enjoyed C++ Coding Standards by Andre Alexandrescu (who seems to be Walter Bright's right hand man working on D) and Herb Sutter (who used to chair the C++ standard committee and is known of the GOTW articles).
This Book. Read it. It's fantastic
Also Effective C++, because it's full of gotchas and important but subtle language features that are ideal for interview questions. A lot of it will be too advanced for a jr. level interview, but you should read it anyway because it's a great book.
Effective C++
if you have yet to, read THIS book!
Many C++ interview questions are lifted right out of here, and for good reason. It contains so many pitfalls and good habits.
C++ isn't that hard, unless you're trying to learn all of it. When I deal with unfamiliar (complex) APIs, part of the struggle is learning what I can ignore--what pointer parameters should usually be NULL, for example, or what typedef/macro is really just a char or int.
Another thing that used to confuse me is that some APIs want the address of a function as a parameter, while others want an object that performs a function (usually, it's because the object has operator()() defined). This is used when the API you're using assumes your function will want to remember state in a more sophisticated manner than is possible with a simple function (and the object is kept alive and its operator()() is called several times). If you really want to understand C++ (I'm not sure you do), I'd recommend Scott Meyers' Effective C++.
Sorry that I don't have any great advice, but these are a couple things that I struggled with when learning new APIs.
Python seconded. Learning multiple languages, especially ones that differ significantly from the ones you already know, is one of the keys to being a good programmer. This is some of the advice in Peter Norvig's Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years.
How to think like a computer scientist is an OK introduction to Python and programming, but it's very undeserving of that title as it really doesn't touch on what one might call computer science. In fact the more computer-sciencey parts are pretty poor – for example, the section on tail recursion is complete crap that will just confuse someone who doesn't already know the what and why of tail recursion.
If you're dead set on Windows and C++ you don't need VS Pro, MS have a free version. It's unlikely you'll really need the extra features that come with the pro version. Also once you're past learning the basics, read a copy of Effective C++ and Exceptional C++. And try not to get sucked too heavily into the weirdisms of the Windows style of C++ programming, they do funny things over there.
Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ - by Bjarne Stroustrup ($48.16)
Me and a couple of others are learning C++ with this book, and have a study group where we discuss content & problems here. If you fancy joining feel free.
Hi there, fellow EE.
We should make a club :)
I believe you can do a crash course into software development and catch up later when it comes to be a better software developer, since you've already been in the market for 4 years I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about (job has nothing to do with education, and you can learn as you go), and I know its the same in CS, a lot of companies just want you to do specific thing, and they don't really care about your theoretical knowledge or your full knowledge with software development life cycle.
Since you are an EE graduate I think you can relatively easily land a c++ software development job, but the problem with c++ is that there is a lot of theoretical knowledge is expected from you.
Still I believe if you set aside 3 months of your lifetime and study the following:
Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++
Code Complete
introduction to algorithms
Optional:
Software Engineering
Java Heads first
C# in a nutshell
Note, half of these books will bore you to death, but you have to power through.
Also there will come times where you don't understand what you are reading, I find it best is just to keep going, eventually things will make sense.
I personally find books is the fastest way to learn, and give you the deepest knowledge and always access to awesome tips and tricks that you can't learn at class or from a video.
If you pick those books, you can read from them in parallel, make a habit of finishing a chapter per 24/48 hour and practice 1-2 hours of programming (of what you've learned) I'm sure by the end of the 3 months you will be better than a lot of CS graduates
Get a book and learn the concepts... IMHO if you want to learn to be a better programmer you need to "learn how to learn". My biggest barrier to learning programming was not having the right teacher/ideas formatted in a clear and understandable way. Then I found stephen prata, opened up programming for me.
http://www.amazon.com/Primer-Plus-5th-Stephen-Prata/dp/0672326973/
If you can't learn programming with that book then you should find something else to do with your life.
I recently started learning C++ (and R) coming from Python and I've been using Prata's C++ Primer Plus. Although this book isn't geared towards financial engineers I think it's probably the best introductory programming book I've used and will be a great reference as well. Beware, the book is around 1200 pages.
Also, the book The Art of R Programming has a small (very small) section in it that discusses using R and C++ (and even Python) together. Probably not worth buying but like ultraspeedz said, there are some nasty pirates that have put the text out there.
What did it for me was to start with architecture lectures by Uncle Bob (Robert C Martin). You can google "Clean Architecture Uncle Bob" and start there. If you are developing on mobile platforms, I suggest reading on the VIPER architecture. Getting yourself accustomed with known architectural patterns helps a lot. There is no magic to it, it's a bunch of standard patterns all hooked up together, and they each help you solve a specific problem in a clean fashion. With good architecture, there is usually no ambiguity on "where should I put my code for this feature?"
This is also a pretty good book explaining the SOLID principles, it's mainly targeting C# but it's concepts that you can reuse in languages like Java. This book is really good IMO.
I recommend starting by teaching some version control basics. Focus on git and quickly cover others like TFS and subversion. You can read Pro Git for free.
If you teach a hardware/software course, CODE is an excellent book.
I also recommend C# in Depth. I would also think it'd be cool to offer points for contributing to StackOverflow or the new open source .NET projects on GitHub.
If you teach design/analysis or other classes focused on architecture, Adaptive Code via C# is pretty good. I'm only a few chapters in, but it discusses Scrum methodology, layering and tiers, as well as how to follow practices for writing great code.
I would also suggest a course on JavaScript. I have had to train too many Junior and Senior developers on how to write JavaScript. It's scary that many web developers don't even understand fundamentals.
So, here's my advice and basically how I learned what I did. I got a major in Finance in college, but I took Python and C++ classes (I also took a discrete class and an "IT" class that gave me some additional insight, but probably unnecessary). With that being said, I would learn basic Python first because debugging and learning algorithms is an absolute bitch in VBA. You don't need to learn additional libraries etc, just go through a basic online course and get through learning about Object Oriented Programming. From there it is much easier to transfer to VBA and learn the Excel object library. This guy: http://amzn.com/1118490398 is the best VBA programmer and is very well known. I mainly use the book as a reference when I'm going into an entirely new area and I search google for smaller questions Also, stop by /r/excel and feel free to PM me with any additional questions!
i recommend using the windows task scheduler and just getting good at logging your powershell scripts either to text, csv, or event logs. i know it's a generic answer, but it's what i've got.
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-PowerShell-Toolmaking-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291161
I really like the books /u/joerod suggested.
Links:
PowerShell in a Month of lunches
Learn PowerShell Toolmaking in a Month of Lunches
For the MVA PowerShell courses:
MVA PowerShell - A plethora of good resources
Good luck! PowerShell is incredibly helpful and fun in both work and every day life!
Edit: Other recommendations from my old self
“Why is C# better than Python” is a tough question to answer, but the short answer is that all the features of C# were put there for a reason. And there are MANY features; C# has evolved over the years to support virtually all of the programming paradigms you can imagine, from procedural code to object-oriented to functional to low-level memory/hardware interaction to whatever. It’s dauntingly complex to dig into all of it, but you really only need a relatively shallow subset of those features to be productive, and you’ll only get better as you absorb more of the profile. What you find as you watch other languages like Python evolve is that they’re really playing catch-up, trying to patch in features that C# has had from its inception. Of course, trying to stick static type safety in after the fact is extremely difficult, but you’re seeing a lot of that in both Python and JavaScript. The lifecycle typically goes something like this: new developers get a whiff of the complexity of C# and are put off, then are pleasantly surprised by how easy and “flexible” JavaScript seems, spend years working with it, and then after hitting a wall with the limitations of those languages, they start down the rabbit hole of trying to monkey around with them to try to fix them up to be more like C#.
Just from the outset, static typing is a huge necessity for large software projects. You can’t afford to exist in an environment where every change of a property throws the stability of your codebase into question, with a host of problems that you can’t identify until runtime. Code clarity is, I would argue, the DEFINING feature of a stable, healthy project, and what you find with dynamically-typed languages is that people get to be afraid to refactor for clarity, because the code is brittle and can’t be changed with any reasonable
level of confidence.
Som people try to make assertions like “a good linter is just as powerful as a strongly-typed language”, but that just strikes me as nonsense. It’s only true if you can commit to using the language in a very basic, highly-conventional way, and once you’ve done that, what you’ve REALLY done is abandoned the flexibility that was the hallmark of the loosely-typed language in the first place, AND what you end up with is a very limited subset of the features a true statically-typed language gives you. It’s really tantamount to believing that most static-typing support is superfluous, which it is most definitely is not.
The thing about JavaScript in particular is that it received an enormous boost by being the only game in town. It’s still a pretty crappy language, but it used to be considerably worse; people tolerated it because it was the only game in town. Even then, it had its cadre of language evangelists who assured everybody that the overwhelmingly primitive nature of the language was really a great feature, and maybe in some abstract sense they were correct insofar as it was sufficient to become a building block for better transpiled iterations of it. But largely, as new features were introduced, developers embraced them wholeheartedly, which likely wouldn’t have been the case if there really was a ton of value in the extremely raw nature of early JavaScript.
These are a couple of really excellent resources for C#, which really dig into the design motivations of the language:
https://www.amazon.com/C-Depth-3rd-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X
https://www.amazon.com/C-7-0-Nutshell-Definitive-Reference/dp/1491987650
It’s worth noting that they’re both enormous books, and ironically the “Nutshell” book is over a thousand pages! That’s the kind of scope that you’re dealing with to really get into what C# has to offer. But once you do, it can feel awkward to switch between that and less-powerful languages. For that reason, I think every developer in any language could stand to learn about C#, since it’s just a great case study in language design.
All of that said, I always think it’s important to remember that programming in most dynamically-typed languages is pretty much like writing every C# program using Dictionary(string, object) as your only data type.
As others have mentioned, writing code is the best way to get exposure. But if you're a book guy like me then there are a lot of option out there that'll accelerate the process. You'd be insane to read all the following--these are just starting points that can accommodate different interests/tastes.
Having said that, I'll start with the one book that I think every C# developer should own:
Framework Design Guidelines: Conventions, Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries
... it's a good read, and it includes a lot of direct input from the designers of the C# and the .NET Framework. Microsoft has been really good about sticking to those guidelines, so you'll immediately get a leg up on the Framework libraries if you work through this book. (Also, you'll win a lot of arguments with your coworkers about how APIs should be designed.)
General knowledge books (tons to pick from, but here are some winners):
Deep dives into specific features that'll serve you well:
Note: I've never found a good LINQ book that supported how I actually use the feature. Coming from C++, you can probably just start off by thinking of the extension methods on Enumerable as a C# version of std
&lt;algorithm&gt;... a good way to avoid writing raw loops. But if you're a performance-obsessed game dev then you'll probably want to use LINQ sparingly--it does have some overhead.I've also been learning C# for work, and I don't do well in classes: I learn better from books. So if books are your thing, here's a couple recommendations (all of these are on Safari Books Online, see if your work will shell out for a subscription)
Unity is the bee's knees.
I've been messing with it casually for several years, and got serious in the last 2-ish years. I like it because I get to use C#, and that's the language I know best. Only problem in it's using some weird limbo version of .NET 2, that's not actually 2.0 but is also 3.0 is some places? I think it's because it's using Mono 2.0, which is some subset of .NET. It's weird. They're moving to 4.5 soon anyways so I'm hype for that. I'ts been a lot of fun regardless, I get to apply a different knowledge and tool set from my day job. Not to mention it feels great when you actually get something to build and actually work.
So anyways here's a list of resources I've found over the years to be super helpful:
Things on Reddit
Books
Videos
Other Things
That's all I can think of right now. I know it's a lot, but hopefully you can take away at least one of these resources.
Happy dev-ing!
It's not that bad.
Accelerated is quite a bit better but somehow I feel as if I had started with that book, with 0 programming experience, I would have been completely lost. Accelerated is by far the best one I have read yet.
7-zip uses a mix of C, C++ and assembly. Unless you have experience with any of these languages, I would highly recommend starting with something much simpler.
I would say if you're trying to learn programming, you need to strip away all the extra 'stuff' that gets packaged up to make a production system. Don't worry about the GUI, and put WPF and C# to the side (for the time being). Start with something simple that will allow you to learn variables, functions, types, control flow, etc. A lot of people recommend Python, and that's a fine place to start. Any language where you can open a new file, write a few lines of code, and see a result would be ideal (Lua, Ruby, Javascript, etc).
More to the point of your question, GUI design is hard. There are all kinds of issues that have to be taken into account: event callbacks from the 'worker' code to let the interface know something changed, threading issues (does the interface lock up while the backend is working?), does the 7z file format even lend itself to parsing just a directory listing without decompressing the entire file?... There is a lot there, and it's not a good starting point. It's something that you can move toward as you learn the basics, though. And I always like looking through other codebases looking for good ideas.
If you're really serious about specifically working with 7-zip, the code is available at their website. You'll need to download the source code from 7-zip.org, then you'll need C Primer Plus and C++ Primer Plus. These are the best 'intro to...' books that I've found for C and C++. You're looking at a few months of reading and experimenting, and a lot of frustration. You're not only going to learn the languages, but also the Windows API that will allow you to interact with the folder views. These are somewhat stubbed out in the 7-zip source, but the specific view you're talking about would need to be written from scratch.
Regardless, it sounds like a fun project and if you put in the time I'm sure you'll get some benefit from it. Just be aware that this is trying to paddle against the current, and it is easier to take a step by step approach (in my opinion).
If you already know C# this is the book you need to master, it's the best in class at the moment; http://www.amazon.com/Adaptive-Code-via-principles-Developer/dp/0735683204/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1463992776&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=adaptive+code+via+c%23
Other than that Pluralsight will be a good option. I know you're looking for mostly free.. unfortunately for the most part (not the newer things like .net core) most of it won't come for free.
Best of luck.
I am a big fan of this book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adaptive-Code-via-patterns-principles/dp/0735683204
I like this book. It is specific to c#, but I'm sure much of it translates to Swift.
https://www.amazon.com/Adaptive-Code-via-principles-Developer/dp/0735683204/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1491493309&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=c%23+agile+design+patterns
I feel like the book Adaptive Code via C# was a great resource for me to advance to the next level as a developer. It covers all the topics you mentioned and helped me understand how to write more maintainable, well architected code.
Adaptive Code via C#
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Excel-Power-Programming-Spreadsheets-Bookshelf/dp/1118490398/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1412752286&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=john+walkenbach
Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA
Thank you! I used John Walkenbach's book on VBA programming. The click buttons are called Form Controls, and they link to macros that execute VBA code. It's pretty easy to pick up as there are lots of online examples.
I actually just bought this book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118490398/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
https://www.amazon.com/Professional-ASP-NET-MVC-Jon-Galloway/dp/1118794753
is the book I recommend. I learned how to do ASP MVC from it years ago.
One thing is what do you wanna do - ASP MVC 5 which is pretty established or ASP MVC 6, which has lots of features I'd say overwhelm a new beginner
There are two good texts that I'd recommend, each have their own bright spots. Pro MVC 5 and Professional Asp.net MVC 5.
It does seem like MVC > WebForms. I'm trying to get better at it by following this book http://www.amazon.com/Professional-ASP-NET-MVC-Jon-Galloway/dp/1118794753/ref=pd_cp_b_0 . But I feel like it assumes you know WebForms or previous MVC's to be able to follow it. Do you have any advice where I could start as a beginner approach? Thanks
https://www.amazon.com/Professional-ASP-NET-MVC-Jon-Galloway/dp/1118794753
I really like the book from the team itself, mvc 5
That's not really a good intro book. It focuses too much on using PowerShell interactively and as a consumer of pre-existing code, rather than on how to actually program. The follow-up book, Learn PowerShell Toolmaking in a Month of Lunches, goes into more depth on using PowerShell as a programming language, but still not nearly as much as an actual "How to program" textbook would.
That being said, PowerShell in general is not a good beginners language for someone that's just starting to learn programming. There's a dearth of beginner-level resources, and it has numerous idiosyncrasies as a result of its split role as a shell and a programming language that don't map well to other languages and would simply be distracting to a novice.
Python is a much better language for someone just starting out. As an added bonus, it has a lot more applications than just Windows system administration, so learning Python gives you a tool that you can leverage throughout your technical career.
Would you recommend C# In Depth?
Someone said it's a masterpiece. Another person said it's for someone who already knows a bit of C#.
I am ready to do what you said.
Read this book.
http://www.amazon.com/C-Depth-3rd-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1410810230&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=jon+skeet
Given your understanding of the problem with Js/React, I'd dive right in to C#/.NetCore. You're aware of potential pitfalls and confusion of language vs framework, but there's probably not a lot of avoiding it anyway. C# is fairly straight forward for the most part. .NetCore is fairly dominant now so starting with it makes sense.
You could start with this book if you wanted:
https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-Covering-Microsoft-Development/dp/0321741765
Its starting to show some age, but it is where I started. It does do a good job covering stuff like value vs reference types, nulls, basic operators, special types like string, structured exception handling, etc. that could be valuable, but you can probably infer most of it if you have learned any sort of OO before. There's some stuff in there that's simply out of date, and glaringly no coverage of async/await. There are a bunch of newer language features such as string interpolation that may be better or more accepted ways to handle things these days.
edit: this is also popular, but still only up to date on C# 5.0:
https://www.amazon.com/C-Depth-3rd-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X
I can highly recommend C#in Depth. It does not start with programming basics, instead it walks you through the evolution of the language version by version, which means not only that the more advanced topics are further down the road, but also gives you a very broad understanding about why the language has developed the way it has.
Edit: also +1 for Unity. It really gives you the freedom to focus on the important parts of game development.
For a quick reference, I like this list of 101 LINQ samples. For something more extensive, Pro LINQ is a little old but still pretty good. Also, C# in Depth is a great all-around C# book and has a few chapters devoted to LINQ.
I haven't read any real thorough comparisons between LINQ methods and their corresponding SQL keywords, but, most of the important methods are named identically to their SQL counterparts (with a few exceptions like Take() instead of TOP). I tend to stick with the standard method syntax and lambda expressions over query syntax most of the time, although the query syntax is sometimes more readable for groupings.
I use LINQ to Objects all the time, and LINQ to XML has come in handy on more than one occasion. If your intention is to use LINQ as a replacement for ADO.NET (i.e. accessing a relational database), then you'll probably want to look into Entity Framework and LINQ to Entities (the LINQ to SQL approach has been deprecated for a few years). Whether or not you should actually do this is debatable, but that's a whole other conversation.
Read these books to get to grips with the latest techniques and ways of working. As an employer I'd be extremely impressed if you'd read these books. They will give you a big head start when trying to move into the professional work environment. Most of them will apply to any programming language but they mainly use Java as the example language but it's very similar to C#. It's books like these that are the difference between a beginner and an expert, but don't forget when you start coding 9-5 with good developers you will very quickly pick things up. We were all in your position at one point, if you get these read it'll all be worth it in the end!
Coding
C# in depth - I've not read this one since I do Java but I've just had a quick glance. This should be pretty useful and it's a respected publisher. I think you should start with this one.
Clean Code - Great book which explains how to write clean concise code, this 1,000,000x. It doesn't matter what language you are using it should apply where ever you write code.
Cleaner Coder - Another Robert Martin book, this one is easy to read and quite short, it's all about conducting yourself in a professional manner when you are coding. Estimating time, working with co-workers, etc.. Another good read.
Growing Object-Oriented Software - This book is about writing code using test driven development. It explains the ideas and methodologies and then has a large example of a project that you build with TDD. I just read this recently and it is really good.
Head first design patterns - This book goes through essential design patterns when coding with an object orientated language. Another essential read. Very easy to read, lots of diagrams so no excuses to not read it!
Work Methodologys
Kanban
Succeeding with Agile
p.s
Start building stuff, get an account on linked in and state the languages you are working with. This will help as well because having something to show an employer is priceless.
2 books I couldn't live without Professional C# (Wrox) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-2008-Wrox-Guides/dp/0470191376/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1302888640&amp;sr=8-8
for the basics and C# in Depth http://www.amazon.co.uk/C-Depth-Jon-Skeet/dp/1935182471/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1302888686&amp;sr=1-1for the nitty gritty useful stuff
IMO, Jon Skeet's C# in Depth is really, really good. It's not for beginners though.
It might not fit your specific goals exactly but I am really enjoying C# in Depth.
It's not a 'learn to program' book so he starts with the assumption that the reader has a degree of background knowledge. He focuses on features that make C# unique as a language and explains concepts well. I also find the examples he works to be clear and interesting.
I'm using it as a supplement to a second year programming class and so far it's filling the gaps very nicely.
I too started with C as my first language using K&R and "learn C the hard way" but i abandoned both halfway. I've started from beginning with "A modern approach to C" as my main source and C: A Reference Manual as, well reference manual when i wanted more in depth knowledge about particular subject. After you're done with Modern approach you should go back to K&R and finish it in order to have your foundation properly rounded.
Edit: I should add few more resources that generally helped me a lot when I started:
http://c-faq.com/
C Traps and Pitfalls
C Standard Library
Things you should avoid in C
A Guide to Undefined Behavior in C and C++
Yes, that is required C reading.
Also Expert C Programming, which is actually funny at times.
Then I hear C: A Reference Manual is the last C book you'll need after those other ones, but haven't gotten to it.
The reference by Harbison and Steele is highly reviewed and may serve you better if you're looking for a reference text specifically.
http://amzn.com/013089592X
C books I've found useful:
Beginner
Intermediate
Expert
I've read almost all the books on C. I think you can get by with just:
This is by no means a beginner book, but it's one you might want to pick up as you progress. It is excellent ...
https://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298
If you're looking for a good book I recommend Expert C Programming.
Expert C Programming : Read this after reading K&R C book.
Programming Pearls : Excellent Book
Algorithm design manual : Read it after CLRS.
Peter van der Linden's Expert C Programming (Google Books, Safari) is a good resource on this question, though it's slightly dated and undoubtedly not the whole story.
Yes. Got every answer correct, with correct explanation.
There are a few very, very good books on this topic I can only suggest everyone to read:
which books exactly, please guide me.
these ones?
Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs (3rd Edition)
Effective Modern C++: 42 Specific Ways to Improve Your Use of C++11 and C++14 1st Edition
More Effective C++: 35 New Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs 1st Edition
What is the difference between them? It seems effective cpp 3 is from 2005 and more effective cpp is from 1996. Is there a point in reading more effective cpp after reading the third edition of effective cpp?
Also, what do you think about C++ How to Program?
These are good, but I would say they're actually better for learning C++ rather than branching to higher level concepts. C++ is one of the easiest languages to implement best practices with and it's intuitive if you're a good programmer. The language and standard itself promotes cleverness and conciseness.
Some books I would suggest for branching to higher level C++ would be Effective C++ and More Effective C++.
Both are wonderfully written and relevant across standards. It focuses on bigger picture C++ rather than exactly current standards.
The assembly is rather light at the beginning. In your first year you have to write some assembly to control a little car with infrared sensors, but it's really easy. Later on though, there are pretty interesting classes on assembly which are pre-reqs for classes on optimizing/debugging. Also it never hurts to learn more. But this definitely isn't something I'd be too worried about coming in.
After K.N. King's book, we don't really cover many more C books. But Kernighan and Ritchie's C Programming Language is a good thing to read.
In terms of C++ books we cover, it's a little weird. For one class, we needed C++ Primer and another we needed C++ Primer Plus. We've also needed Algorithms in C++ by Robert Sedgewick and a couple others. However, most of our classes don't have "required" textbooks, just recommended ones. If you send me a message I can compile a list of the recommended ones from my courses this far.
Personally, I'd highly recommend all of Scott Meyers' books, such as Effective C++, More Effective C++, and Effective STL.
Ignore the people who are stating that learning c++ is some daunting, difficult task. It isn't. If you have learned mathematics, you will be able to learn c++. Both are languages used to convey reasoning. Mathematics and C++ both have grammar to follow and rules for turning some statement into another -- you won't find things very foreign if you look at it from this perspective.
Also, you should avoid videos and such, and just go start writing and compiling C++. You need a good starting point for the language of course, and the core material usually recommended is The C++ Programming Language by Bjarne Stroustrup.
The rest of your reading material should be reading well formed c++ code. Read the source code of popular, well documented projects. Read the Boost libraries, read the source of Qt, read as much C++ as you can get your hands on. Try to understand it. If you find something you don't understand, go look it up. Ask other programmers about it.
Take things in small chunks and if you get overwhelmed just take a step back a bit and write something simple that you can grasp. Create small programming problems for yourself to solve and play with them -- do the same things you did while you learned mathematics.
Once you finish that, you will be ready to program in C++. The next step is to get a deep understanding of C++. For that Bjarne Stroustrup's "The C++ Programming Language" is the best. These are the only 2 books you will need... a quick-start book and a get-deep-understanding book.
Of course, after reading those 2, there are plenty of other good books that you can read to hone your C++ skills, learn more about STLs, etc.
Read books. It might be boring, but a lot more informational than watching a youtube video.
If you already know how to program in another (preferably OOP) language there's The C++ Programming Language or C++ Primer if you want to learn C++11 (not to be confused with C++ Primer Plus, which is a different book 'series')
If you don't know how to program and you want to learn C++ for game development there's Beginning C++ Game Programming, which starts at the beginning (variables are one of the first things explained). After that book you should read up Introduction to Algorithms to make sure you're not writing horrible inefficient programs. Then there's Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software to teach you more about certain patterns used in programs design (needed when using Ogre3D for example. Ogre3D was 90% magic to me until I read about Design Patterns. :p As alternative to DP:EoROOS there's Head First Design Patterns, but it's Java-centric which is a whole other beast than C++.
After those books there's this Stackoverflow thread. Read the first answer (the gigantic list of books). The thread used to be a ton of comments (with the most votes comments on top), but all anwers got copied to the first comment, so it's all sorted on votes. Code Complete (2nd edition) was the most upvoted one, The Pragmatic Programmer was the 2nd most upvoted one, etc.
Then there's this Stackoverflow thread, which is more C++ centric.
I hope this helps :)
First, be prepared to write code that sucks and is unmaintainable for a while. (This could be months or years.)
If you only know Java, then you'll need some C concepts. In particular, you need to become familiar with pointer arithmetic, avoiding buffer overruns, and manual memory management. (C++ has ways (RAII) to make manual memory management less error-prone, but you still need to understand what's going on.)
To learn the basics of the language, read The C++ Programming Language, Special Edition, by Bjarne Stroustrup.
Read a lot of things by Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu. I particularly recommend Modern C++ Design and Exceptional C++; I'm sure others in this thread can give you some good suggestions.
Finally, start writing code, and get it critically reviewed by someone who really knows C++. (I've known 2 or 3 such people in my career; they exist but are the exception, not the rule. Look for people who can explain all the things I listed, and more.)
(Edited to add The C++ Programming Language.)
Accelerated C++ has exercises. I'm partway through it myself and I think it's a great resource, particularly if you already know how to program. I'd recommend it :-)
It was released before the C++11 standard came out so doesn't contain any discussion on modern C++ features, so I'd also recommend continuing your learning beyond this book.
I recommend this book for python (It's big and fat and drills it all into your brain through repetition)
The Django and python websites have great documentation as well
this for Javascript (it's a classic)
www.jquery.com has great documentation as well
this for PHP (Rasmus is great)
this for C++ (they say it's outdated but the concepts still apply)
I like this book for C++ if you want to learn C++. Python is easier though and most people start with Python. I like the book Learn Python the Hard Way (it's actually a pretty easy book lol) but there are quite a lot of books that are good for Python. (and I'm like 99% certain there are free versions of these books available on the web)
That's probably a good way to see if you like coding. Personally I love it 'cause it's a lot of problem solving, and then forcing a computer to do your
evil biddingwork.Then for the chemistry part. I think everybody on the planet and their brother loves this book (it's also free on google). That will help you learn about the theory behind the software.
I also think you should talk to a professor who does computational work to let you toy around with it. I've had two advisors now in comp chem, and I get the feeling if a student came to either of them and said they wanted to play around with the software and see what comp chem is like, both of those professors would probably have been happy to set them up with an account to a supercomputer and show them a few tricks to setting up jobs, running simulations/calculations, viewing data, etc.
I would advise you to get really comfortable with C++. There are many reasons for this, and game development is one of them. Go to your local library, a book store, or a website that sells books and just check for books about C++. There's many parts to game development, aside from programming. There's probably a bunch of books that focus on game development in it's entirety. Some game libraries for C++ include APIs like DirectX and OpenGL (windows-only, cross platform respectively).
I always see this book recommended: Accelerated C++ What I'm saying should be taken with a grain of salt, as it's just one person's opinion and I am no expert.
>After reading all the comments, I ve decided to pick up C# and learn it this summer. If and hopefully I will manage to do it by then, I ll start working in unity and focus on it for half a year or so. Then I ll study C++ and switch to Unrea(as both are more advanced as far as I ve understood)!
>
>Here are the following books I ll use to learn C#: "Yellow Book" by Rob Miles along with "Begin to code wtih C# " and also try The C# "Player's Guide"
>
>For Unity: their website, a lot of youtube tutorials
>
>And for C++: "Accelerated C++: Practical Programming by Example"
>
>
>
>If you guys have better suggestions I`m all ears.Thank you all for the help, really means a lot to me!
These are books I actually own and would recommend. Of course there are other great/better books out there, but I'm going to stick with what I've actually bought and read or "read".
I say "read" because several books are NOT meant to be read cover-to-cover. These typically have about 1/3 that you should read like normal, and then skim the rest and know what's in the rest so that you can quickly reference it. These books are no less important, and often even more important. I've marked these kind of books as #ref for "read for reference". Normal books that should be read cover-to-cover are marked #read
For learning your first language: This is really the hardest part and unfortunately I don't have any books here I can vouch for. I started with "C++ for Dummies" and am not including a link because it's bad. Your best bet is probably "Learning <language>" by Oreily. I also love the Oreily pocket books because you can carry them and skim while on the bus or the john, but you can just do the same with your smartphone. Pocket Python, Pocket Java, Pocket C++
Top Recommendations:
Accelerated C++ #read Made for people who already know another language and want to pickup C++. Also great for people who need a refresher on C++. I really like how it doesn't start with OOP but gets you familiar with the imperative parts of C++ before diving into OOP.
The Algorithm Design Manual #ref This is my new favorite book and the first I would send back in time to myself if I could. Each algorithm & data structure is given a mathematical breakdown, pseudocode, implementation in very readable C, a picture (very helpful), and an interesting war story of how it Saved The Day.
Cracking the Coding Interview #read I originally avoided this book like the plague because it represented everything I hate about coding interviews, but many interviewers pull questions straight from this book so this book can equal getting a job. Put that way, it's ROI is insane.
The Pragmatic Programmer #read Must-have for any profressional software engineer that covers best-practices for code and your growth. You can also find the raw tips list here
Head First Design Patterns #read Many prefer the "GoF/Gang of Four" Design Patterns which is more iconic, but Head First is a modern-version using Java to cover actual design patterns used day-to-day by programmers.
For Intermediates:
Effective Java or Effective C++ and Effective Modern C++ #read When you're ready to go deep into one language, these books will give you a huge boost to writing good Java and C++.
Design Patterns #ref You'll want to get this at some point, but early on it's too much for a beginner and many of the patterns are obsolete.
The Art of Computer Programming #ref The programming "bible" but like Design Patterns you should hold off on this iconic book until you've got your basics covered. It would make for a great purchase with your first paycheck or first promotion :)
Well, this is what most people understand by "modern C++": https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Design-Generic-Programming-Patterns/dp/0201704315; it was published 2001.
Actually Qt offered an equal or even better solution for most features introduced with C++11 alread long before 2011. At least for me C++11 brought little benefit.
I would also suggest to follow these up with Modern C++ Design by Andrei Alexandrescu, which really opens your eyes to the power of C++ templates and template meta programming.
Someone who doesn't really know C++ can do things in C++ and be productive, but keep them away from writing templates, macros, and/or doing anything with pointers. The right library can protect amateurs from shooting themselves in the foot, at least too often; that's why people talk about using a "subset of the language."
I'm a game developer. It's still the case that most serious game developers demand C++, and for good reason.
For reference: I've interviewed dozens of developers applying for a C++ game development job. Most rate themselves 9 to 10/10 in C++, and yet most also choke when I start asking them even slightly interesting questions about the language. Not even the standard (or any other) libraries -- just about the core language. This is all stuff I know like the back of my hand -- and I know that there are things in C++ that I couldn't just get right the first time (see Modern C++ Design for a few examples).
Starting this off as saying that I work primarily in iOS and mac environments. I think PCs are great and apple is overpriced but I really enjoy it and I love Swift so whatever.
If you're building applications in Windows most people seem to start with Visual Studio. There's a ton of resources, frameworks, libraries, and a large community for it. At the very least it's probably a good place to start. For C++ development maybe start here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/get-started/create-a-basic-windows-10-app-in-cpp
Now for your broader question of application development, I would start with the Gang Of Four for code design. These aren't easy concepts to get right off the bat, it's putting in some reps before it becomes natural. You'll never use just one either, most projects become a mesh of different design concepts and there's way more than 4. I recommend coming up with a simple project to build on your own and then attempting to architect that from a high level before coding. Then actually building it. It's really the only way to learn. For C++ reading maybe check this out (not 100% on this, I don't do much with C++, but seems recommended as an update for the original Gang of Four): http://www.amazon.com/dp/0201704315/
Another book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0735619670/
it's from this list: http://blog.codinghorror.com/recommended-reading-for-developers/
This all said, don't get bogged down in books. Read enough to feel comfortable starting something then start it.
The problem here is that of the three "overrides" of
colideWithObjectthat you defined, onlybool collideWithObject(Object* obj)is actually an override. If you put theoverridekeyword at the end of each statement function in Circle (Assuming c++11), you will see the problem. see hereWhat you are trying to achieve is called multiple dispatch (aka multimethods), which requires some legwork in C++. I remember a good method of doing this described in chapter 11 of Modern C++ Design.
Well, in that case I would recommend using C++ to do it, if you can compile using a recent~ish version of clang or gcc for your environment and using the standard library (aka the std or the stl) as much as possible, it's a very OO library so by using it you will understand how OO can be helpful and you can look at it's design to understand how to write things similar to it.
If you want books I would recommend Scott Mayer's Effective Modern C++ (if you are familiar with C and/or older C++) or Brine Startrooper's A Tour of C++ if you are not that familiar with programming in general.
Alternatively, if you want a book about OOP design patterns, there are tow classics that come to mind:
Gang of four (http://wiki.c2.com/?DesignPatternsBook)
Modern C++ Design(https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Design-Generic-Programming-Patterns/dp/0201704315)
For more up to date stuff, watch talks, look at code or look for less popular "up and coming" books.
Keep in mind that your goal shouldn't be to use OOP because you want to use OOP but to use OOP because it helps you reason about things.
OOP can easily result in slow code (similar sized data will not be localized, resulting in inefficient access), horrible design patterns (most beginners will make the mistake of writing large objects that have two many responsabilites) and hard to read code and change code (due to, sometimes useless, coupling between data an algorithms).
If you want to see some interesting takes on OOP check out Scala and Akka's actor library, actors are a thought provoking distributed design pattern that is fun to write and Scala is arguably "the purest OO" language that is widely used today.
Overall write code that works and is easy to modify, use a lot of language and libraries to familiarize yourself with as many aspects of technology as possible.
And remember "objects are burritos", they are simply an abstraction that is used by a wide array of programmer and as such they mean different things from different people.
I have not made anything up. I've described the long-standing accepted definition of the term. You don't just get to claim I'm making stuff up as if it were fact, sir.
> "smart pointer" is not a catch-all for any object with pointer-like behavior.
And that's not the way I described it. A smart pointer is an object that behaves like a regular pointer but is smarter in some way.
> Smart pointer (as opposed to a "dumb" or "raw" pointer) is a C++ structure that behaves almost identically to a common C pointer but it also includes some other capabilities, e.g. throws an exception when it's NULL and someone tries to dereference it, or it destroys its contents automatically when it goes out of scope.
http://www.csc.lsu.edu/~kosmas/smartPointers.html
> In computer science, a smart pointer is an abstract data type that simulates a pointer while providing additional features, such as automatic memory management or bounds checking.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_pointer
> Smart pointers are objects that look and feel like pointers, but are smarter. What does this mean?
> To look and feel like pointers, smart pointers need to have the same interface that pointers do: they need to support pointer operations like dereferencing (operator *) and indirection (operator ->). An object that looks and feels like something else is called a proxy object, or just proxy. The proxy pattern and its many uses are described in the books Design Patterns and Pattern Oriented Software Architecture.
http://ootips.org/yonat/4dev/smart-pointers.html
> So what's a smart pointer? A smart pointer is a C++ class that mimics a regular pointer in syntax and some semantics, but it does more.
>...
> This is the mantra of smart pointers: You can replace pointer definitions with smart pointer definitions without incurring major changes to your application's code. You thus get extra goodies with ease.
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Design-Generic-Programming-Patterns/dp/0201704315
And finally http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/More_C%2B%2B_Idioms/Smart_Pointer
Although I don't agree with most of the intent and motivation sections in that one and would never implement handle/body in that manner.
I bought the C++ Primer, 4th edition a week ago on advice from this subreddit, and I can't recommend it more. It goes into the perfect amount of detail and uses the right amount of jargon. It's chapters are distinguished very well from one another, and there are full glossaries of all the key words met at the end of each of them. Those along with relevant exercises (some that can be done in your head, others that need to be coded) throughout help you learn much more effectively.
http://www.amazon.com/Primer-4th-Edition-Stanley-Lippman/dp/0201721481
There were rumors at CppCon2015 that David and Nicolai would be updating their templates book. But, to my knowledge, no official announcement has been made.
Another good book, starts a little bit easier on the newbie than Alexandrescu. Between the two of them you should be a template wizard in no time... :)
http://www.amazon.com/C-Templates-The-Complete-Guide/dp/0201734842
I have to say linux profiling has seemed to me to be a fast-moving target, meaning you'll get scattered results if you search. But, there's this which seems up-to-date: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perf_%28Linux%29
Then there's Ulrich Drepper's 'What every programmer should know about memory' (long series, but worth skimming at least, if your code is memory intensive. At least read about cache-coherency and cache-lines): http://lwn.net/Articles/250967
But the biggest thing is to get the algorithms right. Sounds like you want image-processing books. Also, GPUs are just absolutely the right place to do this stuff, and there are probably libraries already out there for it; speaking of which, did you know about OpenCV? It even has some stuff implemented on the GPU (as CUDA). I root for OpenCL, but the fact is, almost everything out there, libraries, and books, is written for CUDA.
> All the software is written in C++: I am interested in unlearning bad habits and writing better and easier to maintain code.
I suggest Effective C++ if you haven't read it yet. Also, Herb Sutter's 'Exceptional C++' series (a 'digest' version is C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices).
Never read it myself, but I hear 'Code Complete' is good. Maybe, too, Martin Fowler's Refactoring book - it shows lots of little awkward, problematic patterns and what to do about them, with good discussion. Each cleanly separated out - it will refer back and forth, but you can read the bits one-at-a-time. Good bathroom reading :)
Re: algorithms: Ugh, I don't know. It sounds like you'll want some metric data structures, dealing with space as you do. There's http://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Multidimensional-Structures-Kaufmann-Computer/dp/0123694469, and I don't know what else, maybe some Knuth? But probably, you should learn undergraduate-level data structures and algorithms, Big O stuff. Any used CS Data Structures + Algorithms book should help with that.
Do not fear spending money, as a former boss said, "books are free" ie they pay for themselves if they save you an hour's debugging later. Good luck!
hmm, do you know something about RAII? If not, go searching for that. And, I think all excellent C++ books would mention that, like this and this
There are lots of public coding standards which attempt to codify this. They are typically fairly opinionated, but they do have lots of tips:
Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs by Scott Meyers.
I'm looking for something similar - not so much a 'learn ruby' book as a more technical 'best practices' type of book - something more in line with Effective Java or the Effective C++ series.
C++ has been around for exactly 30, what i mean by that is that it's still widely used in production until this day, and doesn't look like it's gonna change any time soon. it's more then any other language out there, with C as an exception. I'm not sure C# would be valid in 10 or 20 years, but C++ would.
Your best resource for learning C++ would be good books. Like i mentioned, i highly recommend The C++ Programming Language, 4th Edition, it's updated and very complete reference to the language. there's also Effective C++ - it's not for beginners.
There's right, you won't find too much resources about C++ at first glance, but you will if you will dig a bit deeper.
Here's few sites that you should use:
You also might find some useful stuff and links in the Google+ C++ Community
Other people and myself have mentioned learning C++ is not easy, partly is because the lake of documentation on the web. but once you know the language well, you will enjoy it's benefits. It's not for everyone though. I also recommend looking into new technologies like emscripten, it allows to compile C++ code into JavaScript, understand the implications of that, and maybe you will also have my POV.
Hey, I highly recommend checking out the code academy courses on programming. At the level you're at, pretty much starting with any language will be beneficial since most of the beginning concepts are universal.
https://www.codecademy.com/
C++ has a larger learning curve past the beginner stage than other languages (in my opinion). It's a wonderful and extremely powerful language but memory management concepts can be challenging for a large majority of learners.
If that doesn't deter you, then you may find this book useful. I've used quite a few C++ books in college and this one was my favorite. Once you feel comfortable with object oriented design with class building, dynamic memory allocation, basic generic programming and basic data structure then I cannot recommend enough:
effective C++
You can definitely find a PDF of that if you just google the ISBN number and "pdf"
Coding is so much and it can really take a lot of time to finally make anything practical so patience is also incredibly important. Also, you must acknowledge and accept that you will NEVER know everything you want to know. You will learn new things all the time and you will work with people who think they know everything. Those are the ones who know the least, trust me.
Thinking in C++ is good and available online, great for getting started.
Once you've got the syntax, OO concepts, and enough of the standard library down enough to be conmfortable, get a copy of Effective C++. It's basically the bible of how C++ programs should be written.
Other online references
cplusplus.com a good quick reference
C++ FAQ quick, thorough explanations of how random things work in C++
That does not cover C++ as comprehensively as K&R covers C.
What about:
http://www.mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html
Or:
http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876
It's a start. It will teach you the syntax, which is good, but there's a lot more to C++ than just the syntax. Learning the rest on your own can be very painful. One very important thing it's missing is the Standard Template Library. It's extremely useful, and knowing how to use it properly makes C++ much more manageable. There are a few very big books on the subject, but often cplusplus.com has all the information you need about the STL. I often wish every language had an equivalent to that site, I almost always have a window open to some part of it when I'm working.
Once you're comfortable with C++ syntax, I highly recommend you look at Effective C++ by Scott Meyers. It teaches you how to avoid a lot of the (many!) pitfalls with using the language. I hated using C++ before I got this book, and now it's one of my languages of choice. It's what got me to switch my roguelike project from Python to C++.
I'm starting to learn C++ and a good text is difficult to come by, some I find fall into "C with <vector>" while others read like reference documentation without sufficient information. I don't even particularly like Bjarne's own "Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++" as his examples tend to be convoluted.
My current strategy is to go through Discovering Modern C++ which appears compact, concise and modern. Probably complementing this with Effective C++ for good practice. Most importantly having a good linter keeping my code looking nice and proper.
Stroustrup's "Programming - Principles and Practice Using C++", starting at $5.40 used at Amazon
And if that is what you want to do then there will always be jobs that require you to write code, but those aren't the only jobs available to people with a CS degree. I got my degree with no intent of writing code in the long term, I've always loved the analytics side of things and the systems integrations; the actual use between client, employee and system. And CS degrees teach more than how to program, they teach how to think logically like a programmer which is a huge boost to everything else you'll do later on.
Personally haven't used the Harvard site before but if you want to learn it yourself try and pick up Stroustrup's book on C++ programming.. One of my favorite books I have ever used, cheap, and written by the guy who literally invented modern day C++. If you can successfully implement the first half of his book, and understand why it all works, you'll be way ahead of most CS students. After that it's just applying OOP to other languages and practicing with bigger personal projects that use new languages/tech until you've sampled a ton of stuff and built a few multilayered projects.
Linux Journey is pretty good. I think the "Grasshopper" section should be more than enough for 1030. You can skip the getting started part and follow this guide to get a linux distribution on your Windows 10.
If you don't have windows 10 then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And I think the book for that class is Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ by Stroustrup. You can probably find a .pdf of it online though.
Actually I think the book he's referring to may be Programming Principles and Pratice written by the original designer of C++. Many consider it one of the best books for beginners to learn programming principles and the C++ language. The author also explicitly says it is not a reference book and that it is best to go through chapter by chapter.
Of course, I could also be assigning meaning to nothing. I'm just going off the fact that the book is like 1300 pages and is popular for people trying to learn C++.
But the answer to this would still be no. You would need to code a lot in addition to reading the 1300 page tome.
Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++.
He wrote this book for an entry level engineering course he teaches at Texas A&M University.
The table of contents of this book look very similar to the contents on your class, plus some more:
Chapter 1: Computers, People, and Programming 17
1.1 Introduction 18
1.2 Software 19
1.3 People 21
1.4 Computer science 24
1.5 Computers are everywhere 25
1.6 Ideals for programmers 34
Part I: The Basics 41
Chapter 2: Hello,World! 43
2.1 Programs 44
2.2 The classic first program 45
2.3 Compilation 47
2.4 Linking 51
2.5 Programming environments 52
Chapter 3: Objects, Types, and Values 59
3.1 Input 60
3.2 Variables 62
3.3 Input and type 64
3.4 Operations and operators 66
3.5 Assignment and initialization 69
3.6 Composite assignment operators 73
3.7 Names 74
3.8 Types and objects 77
3.9 Type safety 78
Chapter 4: Computation 89
4.1 Computation 90
4.2 Objectives and tools 92
4.3 Expressions 94
4.4 Statements 99
4.5 Functions 112
4.6 Vector 116
4.7 Language features 123
Chapter 5: Errors 131
5.1 Introduction 132
5.2 Sources of errors 134
5.3 Compile-time errors 134
5.4 Link-time errors 137
5.5 Run-time errors 138
5.6 Exceptions 144
5.7 Logic errors 152
5.8 Estimation 155
5.9 Debugging 156
5.10 Pre- and post-conditions 161
5.11 Testing 164
Chapter 6: Writing a Program 171
6.1 A problem 172
6.2 Thinking about the problem 173
6.3 Back to the calculator! 176
6.4 Grammars 186
6.5 Turning a grammar into code 193
6.6 Trying the first version 201
6.7 Trying the second version 206
6.8 Token streams 207
6.9 Program structure 213
Chapter 7: Completing a Program 219
7.1 Introduction 220
7.2 Input and output 220
7.3 Error handling 222
7.4 Negative numbers 227
7.5 Remainder: % 228
7.6 Cleaning up the code 231
7.7 Recovering from errors 238
7.8 Variables 241
Chapter 8: Technicalities: Functions, etc. 253
8.1 Technicalities 254
8.2 Declarations and definitions 255
8.3 Header files 261
8.4 Scope 264
8.5 Function call and return 269
8.6 Order of evaluation 287
8.7 Namespaces 290
Chapter 9: Technicalities: Classes, etc. 299
9.1 User-defined types 300
9.2 Classes and members 301
9.3 Interface and implementation 302
9.4 Evolving a class 304
9.5 Enumerations 314
9.6 Operator overloading 316
9.7 Class interfaces 318
9.8 The Date class 328
Part II: Input and Output 337
Chapter 10: Input and Output Streams 339
10.1 Input and output 340
10.2 The I/O stream model 341
10.3 Files 343
10.4 Opening a file 344
10.5 Reading and writing a file 346
10.6 I/O error handling 348
10.7 Reading a single value 352
10.8 User-defined output operators 357
10.9 User-defined input operators 359
10.10 A standard input loop 359
10.11 Reading a structured file 361
Chapter 11: Customizing Input and Output 375
11.1 Regularity and irregularity 376
11.2 Output formatting 376
11.3 File opening and positioning 384
11.4 String streams 390
11.5 Line-oriented input 391
11.6 Character classification 392
11.7 Using nonstandard separators 394
11.8 And there is so much more 401
Chapter 12: A Display Model 407
12.1 Why graphics? 408
12.2 A display model 409
12.3 A first example 410
12.4 Using a GUI library 414
12.5 Coordinates 415
12.6 Shapes 416
12.7 Using Shape primitives 417
12.8 Getting this to run 431
Chapter 13: Graphics Classes 437
13.1 Overview of graphics classes 438
13.2 Point and Line 440
13.3 Lines 443
13.4 Color 445
13.5 Line_style 448
13.6 Open_polyline 450
13.7 Closed_polyline 451
13.8 Polygon 453
13.9 Rectangle 455
13.10 Managing unnamed objects 459
13.11 Text 462
13.12 Circle 464
13.13 Ellipse 466
13.14 Marked_polyline 468
13.15 Marks 469
13.16 Mark 470
13.17 Images 472
Chapter 14: Graphics Class Design 479
14.1 Design principles 480
14.2 Shape 485
14.3 Base and derived classes 496
14.4 Benefits of object-oriented programming 504
Chapter 15: Graphing Functions and Data 509
15.1 Introduction 510
15.2 Graphing simple functions 510
15.3 Function 514
15.4 Axis 518
15.5 Approximation 521
15.6 Graphing data 526
Chapter 16: Graphical User Interfaces 539
16.1 User interface alternatives 540
16.2 The “Next” button 541
16.3 A simple window 542
16.4 Button and other Widgets 548
16.5 An example 552
16.6 Control inversion 556
16.7 Adding a menu 557
16.8 Debugging GUI code 562
Part III: Data and Algorithms 567
Chapter 17: Vector and Free Store 569
17.1 Introduction 570
17.2 vector basics 572
17.3 Memory, addresses, and pointers 574
17.4 Free store and pointers 577
17.5 Destructors 586
17.6 Access to elements 590
17.7 Pointers to class objects 591
17.8 Messing with types: void* and casts 593
17.9 Pointers and references 595
17.10 The this pointer 603
Chapter 18: Vectors and Arrays 611
18.1 Introduction 612
18.2 Copying 613
18.3 Essential operations 620
18.4 Access to vector elements 625
18.5 Arrays 627
18.6 Examples: palindrome 637
Chapter 19: Vector, Templates, and Exceptions 645
19.1 The problems 646
19.2 Changing size 649
19.3 Templates 656
19.4 Range checking and exceptions 668
19.5 Resources and exceptions 672
Chapter 20: Containers and Iterators 685
20.1 Storing and processing data 686
20.2 STL ideals 690
20.3 Sequences and iterators 694
20.4 Linked lists 698
20.5 Generalizing vector yet again 703
20.6 An example: a simple text editor 704
20.7 vector, list, and string 711
20.8 Adapting our vector to the STL 715
20.9 Adapting built-in arrays to the STL 718
20.10 Container overview 719
Chapter 21: Algorithms and Maps 727
21.1 Standard library algorithms 728
21.2 The simplest algorithm: find() 729
21.3 The general search: find_if() 732
21.4 Function objects 734
21.5 Numerical algorithms 738
21.6 Associative containers 744
21.7 Copying 757
21.8 Sorting and searching 762
Part IV: Broadening the View 769
Chapter 22: Ideals and History 771
22.1 History, ideals, and professionalism 772
22.2 Programming language history overview 783
Chapter 23: Text Manipulation 813
23.1 Text 814
23.2 Strings 814
23.3 I/O streams 819
23.4 Maps 820
23.5 A problem 828
23.6 The idea of regular expressions 830
23.7 Searching with regular expressions 833
23.8 Regular expression syntax 836
23.9 Matching with regular expressions 844
23.10 References 849
Chapter 24: Numerics 853
24.1 Introduction 854
24.2 Size, precision, and overflow 854
24.3 Arrays 859
24.4 C-style multidimensional arrays 859
24.5 The Matrix library 861
24.6 An example: solving linear equations 872
24.7 Random numbers 877
24.8 The standard mathematical functions 879
24.9 Complex numbers 880
24.10 References 882
Chapter 25: Embedded Systems Programming 887
25.1 Embedded systems 888
25.2 Basic concepts 891
25.3 Memory management 897
25.4 Addresses, pointers, and arrays 905
25.5 Bits, bytes, and words 916
25.6 Coding standards 935
Chapter 26: Testing 949
26.1 What we want 950
26.2 Proofs 952
26.3 Testing 952
26.4 Design for testing 978
26.5 Debugging 979
26.6 Performance 979
26.7 References 983
Chapter 27: The C Programming Language 987
27.1 C and C++: siblings 988
27.2 Functions 994
27.3 Minor language differences 1002
27.4 Free store 1009
27.5 C-style strings 1011
27.6 Input/output: stdio 1016
27.7 Constants and macros 1020
27.8 Macros 1021
27.9 An example: intrusive containers 1025
Programming is language agnostic; it sounds like you're looking for breadth rather than depth, so:
Those are the only books I ever used, and I've had no problem programming in any (serious) language I've come across.
Scala, Mozart, etc. cover more "programming paradigms" than C++, but there are more resources for C++ than those languages, so it is a good balance between breadth and support. If you would rather learn a few languages than one language then I would suggest the combination of an ML, C, Python, XSLT, and Scheme. Spend two weeks in each language and make sure you've implemented something nontrivial in each, and make sure that implementation is idiomatic.
Kind of dated now but still mind expanding: Modern C++ Design by Alexandrescu. Templates can get pretty intense and let you choose what gets done at compile time.
Vecchia edizione, ma in italiano.
http://www.amazon.it/Linguaggio-libreria-standard-principi-programmazione/dp/8871920783
Completa con (in inglese):
http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Design-Generic-Programming-Patterns/dp/0201704315
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Design-Generic-Programming-Patterns/dp/0201704315 - amazing book, completely changed the way I write C++ code
The 5th edition isn't out yet (http://www.amazon.com/Primer-5th-Edition-Stanley-Lippman/dp/0321714113/ref=dp_ob_title_bk) and the 4th was released in 2005 (http://www.amazon.com/Primer-4th-Stanley-B-Lippman/dp/0201721481/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1343148370&amp;sr=1-4&amp;keywords=C%2B%2B+Primer+%285th+Edition%29) So i guess it's better to wait for the 2012 edition.
Ah. This is the explanation I was looking for. Thank you.
I understand your lack of confidence in the book. The other book I was using is Lippman's C++ Primer. The actual code presentation in the Primer was simple and beautiful, but Stroustrup's book seems to follow a more logical sequence of topics. I'm a math major and BS's text reads like a good math book.
I heard this one is good.
I'd add C++ Templates: The Complete Guide to the list of essential reading for advanced C++.
Umm...?
First note that Career/Job/Market is quite different from Knowledge/Intellectual satisfaction. So you have to keep "earning money" separate from "gaining knowledge" but do both parallely. If you are one of the lucky few who has both aligned in a particular job, you have got it made. Mostly that is never the case and hence you have to work on your Motivation/Enthusiasm and keep hammering away at the difficult subjects. There are no shortcuts :-)
I prefer Books to the Internet for study since they are more coherent and less distracting, allowing you to focus better on a subject. Unless newer editions are reqd. buy used/older editions to save money and build a large library. So here is a selection from my library (in no particular order);
> STL != standard library
Oh come on. You know as well as I that STL isn’t even a term in the standard and that, although they are historically different, they are often used interchangeably even by C++ gurus (such as /u/stl and Scott Meyers). And that was clearly not the point of /u/ErstwhileRockstar (nor, I suspect, of /u/mitsuhiko).
This kind of stuff is available in painful detail in Josuttis' book, but there is a fair bit of "other stuff" in there.
That said, better than the fish book for someone who wants just the good stuff would be Effective STL and/or Standard C++ IOStreams & Locales.
S.O. has a list of books:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list
Both options appear to be well-received.
Personally, I learned C++ initially with this book as it was the class textbook:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Program-Early-Objects-Version/dp/0133378713?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=deitel%20c%2B%2B&amp;qid=1465331530&amp;ref_=sr_1_2&amp;sr=8-2
Maybe you can pick from the list for the introductory stuff, and pick up Effective C++ by Scott Meyers for recommendations and best practices after you are more comfortable with C++.
http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=effective%20c%2B%2B&amp;qid=1465332161&amp;ref_=sr_1_2&amp;sr=8-2
Read Effective C++ and Effective modern C++. In my opinion, theses books are miles away from any online guides. There's some pdf of those books on some (not legal) webite, but they are a very good purchase.
This is really cool! Thank you.
>A common question is whether the book is still relevant. After all it's over ten years old
I find that some old(ish) books can really hold some great significance, for example: Effective C++ and Clean code have both given me some brilliant tips on making better code. I'm also readingWrite Great Code. If you have any more books i'd love to see them :) Thank you, again.
When I started, the most memorable three resources I know I had were the following:
After you're done with the two above required books, here are some useful readings:
The above readings will probably be a solid 6-12 months to read and absorb assuming you spend a couple hours a day, but I think it'll be well worth it in the long run since this type of stuff sticks with you for a long time. I read the above around 2013, and I can still talk about the CFS/other schedulers, software interrupts, and how the CPU cache works. It'll also make converting to other languages even more of a breeze because you'll know how everything works underneath the hood.
I was on my phone earlier so here are some reference links.
Highly recommended programming books.
MIT has an Intro to Programming course online. They teach it in Python. Here's a decent book to teach you Python, and be sure to check the sidebar in /r/Python for more suggestions.
Project Euler is a great way of trying out new languages when you've learned a bit more.
When you can write competently in Python and are ready to move on, here are two highly recommended books on C++. The reason I've suggested C++ is because it's what ROOT is written in.
As far as math goes, use Khan Academy to supplement your lectures your first two years. In conjunction with the tips outlined on the blog I linked you earlier, you will destroy your math classes.
http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876
Effective C++ doesn't go into the basics of the language, but it's a must read for anyone who wants to be a 'good' C++ programmer...
Sorry but there's no cheat sheet and no reasonable way of making one. C++ is a rather large and complex language laid atop C, which is effectively laid atop an assembly language, which is compiler manufacturer and target platform dependant.
The best way to learn C++, or any programming language for that matter, is to use it, learn from your mistakes, and of course researching and reading everything you can. And of course, have fun with it!
Many popular books exist covering C++ things. Here are a couple good starter ones, in my opinion:
A couple popular C++ sites:
If you're simply starting to learn programming, start small. I suggest beginning with an object-oriented scripting language like Ruby, Python or Javascript. Most concepts will transfer to C++, but beware that the syntax will not - you will quickly see the difference!
For those that code in C++, I highly recommend the book "Effective C++".
There are a ton of good books out there that teach you how to write maintainable, well designed code, and I recommend doing some reading, especially if you're an indie developer or haven't taken upper level Computer Science courses.
"Effective C++: 55 Specific Ways to Improve Your Programs and Designs" - took a "professional C++" course where this was the textbook and still have the paperback somewhere for borrowing
http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876
I'd say buy a good text book. Read it, and apply the material daily. You'll get a lot more skill than a simple 2 day course.
https://smile.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/134-6675713-7342336?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0321334876&pd_rd_r=b3c01114-72c5-40e8-93c4-acd6664cfeea&pd_rd_w=fJMRu&pd_rd_wg=KLYsl&pf_rd_p=09627863-9889-4290-b90a-5e9f86682449&pf_rd_r=CTRRDNJQM8JZVCKSH0H8&psc=1&refRID=CTRRDNJQM8JZVCKSH0H8
Meyers' Effective (Modern) C++ really is a good place to start, assuming he understands the basic syntax and concepts. The basics of C++ don't change just because there's a new standard out. Start with Effective C++ to get the basics quirks of the language down then go to Effective Modern C++ to add in the new things from C++11 and C++14.
I'm in the same situation as you and can recommend some good books I started reading:
The C++ Programming Language
Effective C++
Effective Modern C++
You can also find other good books here -> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list
In addition to going out and actually getting your hands dirty as others have suggested, make sure that when you're doing it, you're using the best design principles you can muster.
Also, do some reading! There are lots of good books out there that can help you learn common conventions and good design principles.
I'm going through Effective C++ right now, and I've learned more about how to write C++ in the first quarter of the book than I had in the previous 2 years of my life.
Effective Java is a good source, too, but obviously it's going to depend on which framework and languages you're using. Either way, though, you'll learn a lot of essential concepts for how to write maintainable code and prevent common design mistakes.
Also, if you're planning on writing a lot of Object Oriented code, read up on Object Oriented Design Principles/Patterns. Even if you never use them, other people will. If you start working in bigger codebases, you'll see them in action, and it'll make learning the code a whole lot easier if you're familiar with the patterns they're using.
That's the old edition. This is the new one.
Highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876
Once Scott meyers has you hooked, checkout his modern effective c++ book. He's a great writer and teacher
Effective C++ and More Effective C++?
For starters: http://c.learncodethehardway.org/book/
Then for some advanced material (Books, sorry they cost $ but they are written by a king C++ con$ultant) : Everything this guy writes. Namely his "...Tips for Effective C++" series, of which he has several. He released one very recently, actually.
He's got other books, although these are his true gems.
Lastly, I think it's valueable to find read blogs of C++ industry programmers-- using C++ in an effective matter is not trivial, and requires a nontrivial commitment. By the time I started realizing the benefit of blogs, I started moving away from C++ to other languages (Because HEY! You can actually get stuff done in other languages!!) The main one I (did) read is this Casey Muratori's blog posts - link is to the start of a really good series of about 3 of his blog posts. He talks about specifically, "how to give birth" to objects. and it's great.
Give the guy a break. He's clearly learning and the last thing someone who is learning needs is to be ridiculed for trying. I get that he's being a bit cocky, but maybe he's coming from a different language, where he was strong, or something and doesn't quite the get the idiosyncrasies of C++. If you put yourself, someone who has some, moderate, maybe even decades of experience in his shoes, you might think twice about being so blatantly disrespectful. You followed it up with good instruction, but why put the guy down? You don't have to be an asshole to help the guy.
As for /u/roflmaohaxorz, you might want to check out some beginner books like Programming: Principle and Practice using C++. Maybe, take a look at using std::string, instead of trying to manage your strings raw. Then I'd suggest reading up on how the standard input and output streams work. Maybe some investigation into primitive data types to understand the difference between arrays, pointers and values. Keep trying, but be modest. Try to understand likely you don't know, what you don't know. Lastly, have fun!
I don't have a book to recomend but I have a book that you should not read. DO NOT USE THIS BOOK It was written buy the creator of c++ himself and it sucks. I think I fell asleep in Stroustrop's lecture while in this intro to c++ class...
My first CS prof, Bjarne Stroustrup, actually did the same sort of thing. (Minus the e-book part)
He told us his book is made a little more cheaply to better be affordable for us. Check out how cheap the 1.2k page book is (Under $50) http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Principles-Practice-Using-C/dp/0321543726
And honestly, the build quality is fine. I paid the same for a 120 page year book and had pages fall out day 1, but this text was lugged around campus and thrown about and had no issues whatsoever. I also got it used...
ああーストラウストラップじゃなくてビューティフルコードでしたか
言われてみれば鳥の数がちょっといやだいぶ違うような・・・
https://www.amazon.co.jp/Programming-Principles-Practice-Developers-Library/dp/0321543726/
I know you said online, but I'd highly recommend this book- by the creator of C++ himself. (Bjarne Stroustrup)
http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Principles-Practice-Using-C/dp/0321543726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1300905008&amp;sr=8-1
It's not as heavy as one of his other books, and is a good introduction to programming in general.
Bjarne Stroustrup - Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ (Amazon Link) would be my first recommendation.
It gives clear and detailed instruction right from the start. It's a lot of work, but it's well worth it. Buy a physical copy if you can; it's far better to work from a book.
A proper infix calculator program that can read something like 5*(3.5-1.2)/15+2.9 and give the correct answer isn't simple at all. It requires the creation of a parser, and to write a parser you'll need to know what grammar you're working with. The type of thinking needed to write a calculator is a step up from something simpler like a temperature converter, Tic Tac Toe or even Minesweeper even if it may not seem so.
Bjarne Stroustrup's Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ devotes two chapters to making a complete console-based calculator with proper error checking and recovery in Chapters 6 and 7, which also happens to be where the difficulty of the book spikes considerably. He doesn't use a stack, which would be conventional for a calculator program, because stacks have not been covered at that point. Instead, he chooses to use repeated pushing and getting from a custom token stream to solve the problem.
If you're looking for a book that teaches you how to program and runs you through the thought process of a programmer as he builds a program, I recommend Stroustrup's book. It's not that suitable for an absolute beginner and his chapter organization seems slightly haphazard, but that doesn't take it away from being an excellent guide. It happens to use C++, but it teaches programming and does not teach a programming language. I suspect a book like that is what you want.
His (deliberately bug-filled as an exercise) solution at the end of Chapter 6 can be found here. Yes, it's hard to understand.
I just finished this book and highly recommend it as a starting point.
up
dammit. Thanks for taking the time to explain that to me.
This
>is a valid URL. The code doesn't limit the protocol to just "http", anything before a "://" will be accepted.
and that
>getline(inFile, sentence); will discard the ending newline,
are really good to know.
> paragraph.assign(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>{inFile},
std::istreambuf_iterator<char>{});
thx.
This book is like Jesus to those people at learnprogramming however I think I may pick up a different one.
How's this one book
Thanks, I've got Principles and Practice using C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup ordered, however code doesn't exactly match from the texts I have read to VB. I was just trying to get some definitions, so I can recognize how to identify code in the future. Thanks
http://www.amazon.com/Primer-Plus-5th-Stephen-Prata/dp/0672326973 and motivation to understand and learn.
I'd recommend this in lieu of any shortcuts. C++ is more complex than Game Maker. What you're asking for is something that you can cobble together as you go along, when in reality you have to have a pretty firm understanding of the language as a whole to make anything of substance.
Huh. After reading this thread, I'm pretty happy that Stack Overflow did not exist when I started programming in the early 2000s. All I found were sketchy pay-for-answers sites, which I did not trust (I was also a broke 13 year old), so I was forced to go buy a giant book on C++ and read it all the way through. this one
That gave me a great base of patterns to work with and I was able to not pay any attention in college because I already learned most of the material.
I do love Stack Overflow for shit like "How do I fix this obscure OpenGL error?" though, it has become an irreplaceable tool in my toolset.
I find more often than not that patterns are rarely well represented in books; they are almost always delve too far into implementation specific details or simply gloss over any implementation details in favor of theory. Sometimes, all I want is an ELI5 about the pattern, and let me work the rest out for my codebase.
Books on principles of coding, however, are dime a dozen. One I like in particular is Adaptive Code via C#. It gives plenty of code examples (you can download the entire working solution projects from the website given in the book) and it does a fair job of covering several patters and gives specific examples of how they apply to the SOLID principles.
Of course, there's always Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. This book has been one of the programmer's bibles for the past 20 years. It is a more difficult read, since it is a more theory oriented book. One thing to note is that some of the design patterns discussed in the book have been rendered obsolete by aspects of some languages and frameworks, while a number of new patterns have come to exist based on those same languages and frameworks.
What is your programming background? Do you have any experience in other languages/frameworks?
I haven't used the book you mentioned, but these have been pretty helpful (listed in order of brain-melting complexity):
You should read this book..
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adaptive-Code-via-patterns-principles/dp/0735683204
Especially the section on SCRUM and MVR.... really, really good book.
Edit : It will help give you an understanding of how software is developed at MS.
One of my favorites
As long as you understand that VBA would be less efficient, and you'd be doing it for the experience.
I like to get fully immersed in topics so I'd recommend this book. It helped me get a solid introduction of most topics without getting too complex. You can get by with just googling functions but long term you'll want a more thorough introduction either with this book or an online resource. Also the contextuals (spelling?) and mrexcel sites are good iirc. And definitely stackoverflow.
With that being said, this is a pretty straight forward script, so it shouldn't give you that much trouble. If you have trouble feel free to post your sample script and I can make some suggestions. The best method to learning VBA is to just go at it and see what work. Google and stackoverflow are your friend.
I second the need for Excel and VBA. Then pick up more depending on what you actually end up doing. I advanced up the pay ladder by learning Access & SQL. VBA Resource I agree with your sentiment to just pick a project and start programming. I learned more from trial and error and stackoverflow threads than I did in any tutorial class or reference book.
There won't be any mandatory books for the course, but I will put on the syllabus that a good reference is John Walkenbach's "Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA". I think this book is better for people who already have some experience in VBA since it is very thick an intimidating to the beginning.
http://www.amazon.com/Excel-2013-Power-Programming-VBA/dp/1118490398
Hello,
Based on the comments until now i understand that you trying to learn asp.net core 2.
When i started my journey on asp.net i started with Professional ASP.NET MVC 5 great book.
For Asp.net Core i started with: Pro ASP.NET Core MVC its a nice book for asp.net core 1.
for asp.net core 2 i would suggest the Pro ASP.NET Core MVC 2 but with a slight hesitation because asp.net core 2 at the time of the publishing was still new.
Also this MVA course could help you.
If you need more info and tutorials - courses. Comment bellow and i will try to help you find the best courses for you.
Thanks.
Look at this.
I put together this guide for web dev newcomers.
If you don't want to go through the whole guide, this video is really good at delivering an overview of a web application's different parts.
On another hand, if you pick a big good book (400+ pages)about a web framework (Rails for Ruby, Django for Python, ASP MVC for .NET,...), the authors will mention Angular, Auth, DB connections, Rest Api, as side or main topics.
Exemple of such books.
I'm currently learning MVC as well, and I went with the just-released Professional ASP.NET MVC 5 [1].
Reading the Amazon reviews, the Freeman book uses dependency injection via the open source library Ninject. That may be a common development approach for all I know, but I wanted to focus on learning MVC without any third party library requirements.
If anyone has thoughts on Freeman's approach, I'd be interested.
If you like video tutorials, another resource is a MVC 4 video tutorial offered free by Pluralsight. [2] They have subscription plan that looks reasonably priced, and it covers MVC 5. (The Pluralsight videos are narrated by K. Scott Allen, who is also one of the co-authors of the Galloway book.)
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Professional-ASP-NET-MVC-Jon-Galloway/dp/1118794753/ref=pd_cp_b_0
[2] http://pluralsight.com/training/Player?author=scott-allen&amp;name=mvc4-building-m1-intro&amp;mode=live&amp;clip=0&amp;course=mvc4-building
I read "Professional ASP.NET MVC 3" about 3 years ago but it seems liek there is a MVC 5 version out now.
To your question about why is asp.net webforms becoming outdata. While there are many reasons I think the biggest is that MVC as a design pattern works really well web appplication development. Webforms is a great technology but it tries to enforce a stateful design pattern on web development which can make development harder. Stateful design patterns are better for desktop applications where as stateless applications are better for web applications. Lastly with MVC works better with a lot of the javascript frameworks out there that webforms really struggled to ingrate well with but a lot has been improved to fix this.
A lot has come from on the job experience, but it also comes from setting goals for myself.
In December I knew nothing about Windows PowerShell, so I started researching. I bought Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches. I used that to start making some automated AD reports.
My other goals for this year are Security+ by June 31st. Then read Learn Windows PowerShell Toolmaking in a Month of Lunches in July. And finally get Linux+ by December 31st.
This is my most aggressive year, mainly because I am starting to feel stagnant in my current job.
That is great for getting you comfy with the language but if you're like me you need to use it a lot / have a practical purpose in mind to help focus you so with that in mine, the follow-up book may be quite useful
Another "lunches" book to read after the first is Powershell Toolmaking in a month of lunches there's another book coming out on the matter of Scripting later this year.
Also, for reference see if you can get Powershell in Action
It was written by the man who architected and designed the bloody thing, so you're in good hands. I've not read it cover to cover, but it's certainly the definitive reference on the subject.
All above books rated 5/5 stars on amazon by a lot of people.
If you're so bogged down, stitched up and scared to even think about automating anything, then I'd absolutely recommend The Phoenix Project this is the paradigm shift IT has gone through over the past decade. Essentially, IT has taken on board efficiency and best practices that have been standard in the manufacturing industry for decades, to incredible success.
Seriously, "Bag of Nails" IT shops are on their way out. If they're that unwilling to take a step back and do things the smart way, they're a shit company to work for. Learn about technical debt and why it's critical to pay it off.
DevOps and Site Reliability are in essence the latest buzzwords in IT service management, but there's a lot of positive change going on in the industry off the back of it. There's a sort of productivity Gold Rush.
If you're bogged down your current job sounds like the perfect place to cut your teeth and leapfrog off the back of it to move into a better organisation who wants to work smart.
Have fun!
c# in depth
http://www.amazon.com/Depth-3rd-Edition-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X
C# in Depth by Jon Skeet
http://www.amazon.com/dp/161729134X/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_RW1Wtb0QDS63T
For a quick overlook, this. And for a little bit more detail, this one.
The Pragmatic Programmer is about the discipline of Software Engineering. It focuses on treating Software Engineering like a craft, just like any other craft. Turning the focus of "just producing code" into an apprenticeship.
Clean Code is about how to write your code as cleanly as possible. Clean Code allows for better productivity, better maintenance, clearer understanding of your code, and makes communication with your peers easier.
Neither book is focused on .NET or any type of specific tech, they are more about how to approach the discipline of Software Engineering. Having that kind of mentality will help you conquer any Software Engineering hurdles you may be having.
If you feel you need to learn more about how .NET/C# works. These books might be best saved for later. But they will come in handy in the long run. It sounds to me like you have a grasp of being able to do your day-to-day job now. So maybe some general knowledge about Software Engineering would help.
If you are looking for something to read that is C# specific I cannot recommend C# in Depth enough. It is a rather dry read, but it completely covers all aspects of the language. It even does it in a chronological way so you can see the language grow and develop over time. If you have ever thought "Why does C# do it that way?" this book will answer that question. I found it fascinating to see the language grow over time and realize why the language is what it is today. Make sure to get the latest version of the book which I believe is currently the 3rd Edition.
I've heard C# In Depth is pretty good. The author, Jon Skeet, works at Google and is apparently Chuck Norris as well.
Disclaimer: I never read the book.
Grab a copy of Skeet's C# In Depth and consume it.
I suspect you'll find the transition pretty easy. Linq and lambdas may be a bit mind stretching at first, depending on your other experience.
As someone who spent 10+ years in Java and am doing C# currently for the last 3, I must say I strongly really prefer C#. OTOH, we use as little of the MS stack as possible otherwise: we rely on MySQL, Redis, and Servicestack
There isn't a 4th ed./C# 6 version out yet for this, but C# in Depth (http://www.amazon.com/Depth-3rd-Edition-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X) is basically all advanced C#/.NET topics, and extremely well written.
If you're looking to up your C# knowledge, definitely would recommend this book. (Also a lot of the C# 6 features are syntactic sugar, so you're not missing too much you can't get from an online source such as https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dn879355.aspx)
I think these books are good, anyway they are in my Amazon history
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1449337163?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1449320104?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
I think there is a c# 6 version now though
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/161729134X?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
:D
|will I ever have to use ArrayList again?
You are correct, no you wouldn't have to at least in the vast majority of cases. As an aside, If you use a generic List<T> with object as the type (List<object>) it will work the same way as ArrayList - but normally you'll rarely have to use object as the generic type parameter.
|How can I make it work, then?
The scenario I provided is kind of unlikely, and you won't be able to completely escape type restrictions. But there are ways to make that example code work, however I doubt you'd every have to or want to use them. If you must know, I was thinking of the implicit conversion operator - User could convert itself to and from int (if that made sense to do!). Also, C# as of .NET has the 'dynamic' keyword, which could help accomplish similar semantics.
I was just thinking, if you want the soup-to-nuts of the .NET type system, delegates, generics, LINQ, lambdas and everything else, you might want to look into some of the books that cover things both in breadth and depth. I would personally recommend Jon Skeet's C# in Depth and Jeffery Richter's CLR Via C# both of which are flat out amazing, IMHO.
Read some easy beginner's book like Head First C# to get initial grasp of a language and after you finished with it read C# in Depth. If you really want to understand what is happening pick up CLR via C#.
Also always follow Code complete religiously and you will be better than most.
Sure it's in K&R, and that's the original source for a rule retold in many forms.
There were several very good books from the 80's that might have mentioned it - if could have been Harbison & Steele that he recalled.
If you're actively coding in C and like books, H&S is the best reference outside of the actual ANSI standard.
Expert C Programming by van Linden is the best book for really learning what's going on in C. It's 20 years old, but still relevant. This is the famous "Ugly Fish Book".
http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298
Exceptional C++ and Effective C++ (and the More ** versions) are also actually pretty damn useful in the C world.
Since you didn't mention C knowledge, you'll still need to either start with K&R OR C Programming: A Modern Approach by King.
I think the article is quite good, even with the syntax problem others have pointed out. It covers most of the issues common to embedded development.
For more C, I recommend this book (it's very readable):
http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298
https://www.amazon.com/Expert-Programming-Peter-van-Linden/dp/0131774298
Off the top of my head this book comes to mind.
Το βιβλίο υπάρχει και στα ελληνικά και είναι καλό. Αξιοπρεπέστατο είναι και το βιβλίο των Τσελίκη-Τσελίκα "C Από τη θεωρία στην πράξη" - http://www.c4all.gr/
Τα δικά μου favorites by far: K&R και Deep C Secrets του Peter van der Linden .
Have you considered alternatives? Expert C is quite good.
If you don't have any intentions on buying a book, there were several scanned copies I found when you step off what Google shows you. I'll leave that as a exercise in piracy for you.
I think you would enjoy Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets. Note: the book was first published in 1994
>Give me a C statement where the intended meaning cannot be discerned.
p = p+++++g;
Programmer could (and likely does) mean: p = p++ + ++g;
C parses: p = p++ ++ + g;
Just the first thing that popped into my head, example from Expert C Programming. I highly recommend reading it, the first several chapters are devoted to the limitations and problems of C based on undefined things, errors in the ANSI spec, poor decisions, legacy PDP-7/11 artifacts, etc...
I love C, but the language has its warts-- more than "it gets complex."
Yeah, no worries; just emphasizing. I wasn't programming when it was introduced either. ;-) I had to dig out my D&E to try to track it down.
There is also the follow-up More Effective C++ which I highly recommend as well.
One thing I cannot recommend a lot is, buy a book on whichever language you'll start out with. If that is C++ I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Language-Special/dp/0201700735/ and I like it, granted I don't have much to compare it to other than a Java book from school, which is terrible in comparison.
Also, C++ isn't a bad place to start, although I would say it's a hard place to start, if you want something a bit easier, I'd recommend Python (don't know it myself, but I see it recommended by others all the time), Java or C#.
Do you have any programming experience?
---------------------------
Intro CPP Books
Dietel's C++ How to Program
Oreilly's Practical C++ Programming
Language Reference
C++ Programming Language
http://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Language-Special/dp/0201700735
Other Useful Books (understanding C++ better)
Inside The C++ Object Model
I would recommend saving the money and learn from books. As said before most employers don't care about certifications and if they do, you probably don't want to work there.
The C++ Programming Language is written by the inventor of C++ Bjarne Stroustrup and arguably the best introductary book out there.
If you already know core programming principles by heart i would recommend Accelerated C++ .
http://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Language-Special/dp/0201700735
Start at the front, work to the back.
Based on my own experience:
Next, tackle on STL specific stuff
>Java and C# are retard proof in that if you screw up, you get a descriptive error message and possibly the line it occurred on. If you screw up in C or C++, you get a magical crash and no information other than 'oh there was an access violation.' And it won't say 'access violation.' It will just give you an error code. Without memory management, you have a lot less to worry about and virtually no chance of your program continuing in an inconsistent state and producing completely incorrect results (which you may not know are incorrect).
How does the fact that C++ gives less descriptive error messages automatically make C++ programmers better? One's ability to debug past vague error messages and confusing language features says nothing about one's ability to write efficient and maintainable code. In fact, it might say exactly the opposite - using a tool that slows you down with vague errors and confusing features when better tools exist means that you'll get beaten to market by someone who doesn't have debug arcane error codes and undetected access errors.
>You won't find anything similar to this in Java or really any other language. If you come across an object you don't know about in Java, what do you do? You search a reference for information on the object. If you come across some syntax you don't understand in C++, what do you do? You can't very well put that line of code into Google and you have no idea what the term for it is.
Well, I'd look it up in the index of The C++ Programming Language, but I take your point. However, I fail to see how this is an advantage that C++ has over Java. Confusing syntax is something to be generally avoided.
can't go wrong with K&R C to learn the low level stuff (pointers) first, then The C++ Programming Language to learn the rest
DON'T use K&R C as another poster suggested.
The main thing is to practice. At the intro level, I know there isn't a whole lot to practice with if you don't have an idea of something you'd like to implement. I do have a series of 4 homework problems for a class I TA'd a couple of semesters ago - problems were due every 2 weeks and each assignment built on the previous one in order to encourage good object-oriented behaviour. PM me if you'd like them. I will try to dig up the solutions, but not sure if I still have them.
After that you'll need a DS&A course, but this is probably in your program anyway.
Thank you! Yes I have heard only good things about that book.
Does it matter that it is C and not C++? Because I have been told Accelerated C++ is also a very good book and things are seen at a faster pace. But again, if you believe the K&R is a better approach I will by all means look into that one. I mentioned Accelerated C++ because of the time constraint I have.
I've got that book too and I like the way it teaches things but it is definitely harder to understand initially than some other books. I suggest getting it along with another C++ book (I have SAMS Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days) so that when you're having trouble with Accelerated C++ you can switch over to the other book and just read about a particular topic (such as pointers) and maybe go back to Accelerated C++ with a little more understanding.
Perhaps this one? It always seems to pop up for me when discussions of C++ texts rear their head.
http://www.amazon.com/Accelerated-C-Practical-Programming-Example/dp/020170353X
I wouldn't go with "teach yourself C++" I'd highly advise: http://www.amazon.com/Accelerated-C-Practical-Programming-Example/dp/020170353X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1324963126&amp;sr=8-1 (Accelerated C++) which takes a late-object approach and is broken down very nicely.
By chance, I was reading yesterday the introduction of http://www.amazon.com/Accelerated-C-Practical-Programming-Example/dp/020170353X - what I like in that style, is that you see some code, have it in your mind, and get a discussion of concepts based on that example. Writing about programming is very difficult (as I experience myself), but I start liking the idea, that actual code examples early help the reader to get a better feeling what is going on.
Heh, I don't know really. I usually recommend Accelerated C++, but it's a bit dated now with C++11. Perhaps we can help each other? :)
The first book I read that made C++ seem simple was Accelerated C++. You can easily find a PDF on Google if you're so inclined.
(It is a little out of date because C++11 brought about some important new features, but the basics are still fairly relevant)
What kind of jobs are you applying for? Low-level stuff is typically applicable for things like engine work, graphics, optimization, networking and audio. Okay, that covers a lot of the game development process, but there are certainly jobs that aren't deep into that, like peripheral tooling (making tools for developers to use) or working on stuff like the webservices that powers the online community.
However, if your goal really is core game development, then you need to be a lot more targeted in how you learn. I have interviewed for and was hired by a game company that worked in C++, and have also worked in distributed, networked military simulations (think of it like boring, more realistic Starcraft), so here is how I gained the various knowledge I had in getting through those types of interviews (including a 90-minute written test for the game company where I had to debug C++ code on paper, answer various gotchas, etc.).
I don't know how far you have covered, but this is how I would approach the learning now, were I to start over again.
It covers low-level concepts like CPU pipelining, memory, and how code interacts with the machine. I read this years after I started my job building simulations, and it reinforced a lot of what I learned previously and in college. I also recommended this book to a friend of mine who credits it with giving him an edge over his fellow college grads (he's years younger than I am) in low-level knowledge. If you don't know concepts like cache locality, cache lines and how memory is allocated, this book will cover that and more.
std::vector&lt;T&gt;in C++.std::mapandstd::unordered_mapstd::setandstd::unordered_setstd::list&lt;T&gt;andstd::forward_list&lt;T&gt;std::stackandstd::queuestd::deque- The C++ implementation of a double-ended queue.std::setis typically implemented with a red-black tree behind the scenes)-----
The above covers the 'core' stuff you'd have to learn. If you wanted to get into stuff like network programming or graphics programming rather than just core gameplay development, I can expound further.
This book is made for your use case, you can probably find it free somewhere
https://www.amazon.com/Accelerated-C-Practical-Programming-Example/dp/020170353X
First thing I noticed upon looking into your code, and I do apologize if it sounds a bit harsh, please forgive me: It's very disorganized, you have non-constant globals (nasty), and very sparse comments (not useful when trying to figure out code, try to at least have simple descriptions of what a function does), your map is hard coded in game (not bad for simple example, but try reading it from a file later on). I'm also curious why you're doing
struct inputstate curstate = {false, false, false, false, false, false, false};
within main, calling
inputstate curstate = //blah
should be sufficient. Calling struct will create a new structure, although maybe in this case it's making an inputstate. Either way, it's an odd line. Putting struct before inputstate is unnecessary.
I strongly suggest you learn more about C++ and Object Oriented programming, as it will solve these issues with organization and global variables you're having, if you use the ideas correctly. Since it seems like you do know some programming, I would suggest Accelerated C++.
Now, on to your questions:
> Is there a problem with using an IDE?
No way, and don't let anyone tell you there is. Visual Studio is an insanely powerful IDE, and I use it myself and absolutely love it. If you're comfortable with VS there's no need to switch because people say it isn't 'proper'. However, learning to use a simple text editor, g++ on command line and makefiles will be valuable, even if only as a learning exercise. That is why you should try to learn it. I know both, but prefer working with VS, intellisense is too good to deny hahaha.
> Do people only use vim/text/command line
It's personal preference really
> How to generate make files
Cmake can do it, and you may be able to do with an extension from VS, but I'm not sure
> Quickstart tutorial for vim/make
Look up the g++ compiler for linux (on windows minGW) and get vim running. Although I prefer Sublime Text 2 for text editing.
> Advantages of VS
Tons, if you learn the IDE it is another very powerful tool. My personal favorite thing in VS is the fantastic code completion, I've not found anything on par with it from any other editor.
> Can I do int a = b
Yes. I'm a bit confused with your wording though, if you're implying that a would equal b at all times, that is false. a = b at the time the expression is evaluated. If you want a to reference b you need a to be a pointer to b's address like so
int a = &b
Then doing
a
Will return the value of b at the time you've called *a
> Where can I get more help?
See the recommended book above, when you feel you've learned the concepts in there well, move on to a more advanced book listed on SO's C++ book list
I hope this covers your questions
I can't speak highly enough of this book if you do decide to study C++.
Though you may want to ask around and find out if it may be worth waiting until there's some C++11 literature available as well.
I've also heard some C++ guru's (Meyers) say that the new implementation will be easier for people with Java and C# backgrounds to pick up on. What that implies I have no clue.
Accelerated C++ is an excellent recommendation. I would suggest quite the same thing, learn the basics before jumping into Boost. Accelerated C++ offers good, in-depth explanations of what's going on in the code, but not too mind numbingly deep that you get bored or can't understand it.
Boost::Asio is pretty good as far as a fairly mature socket and I/O library goes.
Hello :)
According to this link:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list
This book should be good for you:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/020170353X/?tag=stackoverfl08-20
If you are familier with some programming concepts, you may take a look at Accelerated C.
If you want a good, well recommended book. I would try accelerated C++
Accelerated...
Rust is currently premature but that is only temporary. You don't have to restrict yourself to only a single language. Try it and see how it goes. Rustbyexample and the guide set the barrier pretty low as far as trying things out (although, windows support may currently only be mediocre). Rustbyexample in particular because everything can be run in place (without downloading anything). Concepts in one language extend to others so learning one helps with others.
---
Some of the following comments about Rust may also extend to other language like python. For example, python has a well organized and seemingly comprehensive documentation set on their main site which is a huge help. Other (newer) languages may also.
If you intend to learn it using the internet only (without printed books) then C++ may not be a good choice (in my experience). This C++ tutorial is pretty good but it is extremely brief compared to a book like Accelerated C++ which is compact, detailed, and covers much more material than the tutorial will (it may be difficult for a beginner though).
Rust doesn't currently have the luxury of referring to good books for instruction. So best practices and coding conventions are being baked directly into the compiler/guidelines pages (currently WIP)/the guide. This is really convenient compared to C++ where resources are much more scattered (aside from books).
Inevitably, if you try writing something though in either language, you will get confused/perplexed by something regardless of the quality of documentation. In those cases, having IRC for help is incredibly helpful. They can save you hours upon hours of mystification. The Rust IRC is extremely extremely helpful in that regard.
Rust has cargo which makes testing new things incredibly easy. My experience with C++ is you find a new repository you want to test, you download it and spend the next 2 hours trying to get dependencies in order so you can compile it. With cargo, you often run this and you're done:
git clone site:repository
cargo build
The C++ compiler is notoriously unhelpful also which extremely confusing especially to a beginner. It is commonly the case that it finds some issue on line 12. When you eventually find the error, it's on line 20 (the compiler points you to the wrong location). What kind of issue could it be...maybe you forgot a semicolon. In general, the rust compiler is much more helpful with regard to error messages. If there is a confusing error message, the compiler team would like to make it better. If you're still confused, there is always IRC.
C++ has a lot of IDE support which is very helpful for advanced projects. Rust currently doesn't (Python doesn't seem to either). This will probably improve in the future. Also, IDE support often costs money depending on the language.
Yeah there was nothing in the talk about it.
As far as I can tell, it's a somewhat silly reference to the fact that the influential book "Modern C++ Design" was written in the C++ 98 era.
This 2001 book advocated a clean break from the C heritage in C++:
https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Design-Generic-Programming-Patterns/dp/0201704315
It's heavy on template metaprogramming. I actually prefer "C with classes" for many problems, but it's it's clear that C++11, 14, 17 are going further in this direction.
And I believe that Immer relies on many features from C++11 and 14. Those features enable C++ the language to delegate all its data structures to libraries, rather than being part of the language.
-----
For a completely different and more useful application of the word "postmodern" in programming, I recommend this paper:
http://www.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/comp/Publications/CS-TR-02-9.abs.html
It's very insightful, fun, and in the 15 years since it was written has become more relevant. I haven't blogged about this, but this kind of thinking underlies the shell and the design of the Oil shell in particular. In particular, in large systems, there is "no grand narrative", and it makes sense to opportunistically use models when they are useful, but throw them out when they are not.
There is a tendency among programming language designers to assume that they are at the center of the universe. A big part of shell is about making existing pieces written in different languages work together.
And that includes the operating system. To me, it's obvious that runtime is more important compile time, and too many programming languages are ignorant of the other enormous piece of code that runs when your program runs -- the operating system.
> It's you little hipstor who're trying to prove the outrageous idea that what people do now is somehow the best possible
Nope I haven't once tried to argue that. I'm arguing against your stupid idea, not that what we have is perfect. But again your inability to grasp basic knowledge doesn't really surprise me.
> Even that useless wikipedia does not say anything about
I pulled several literal direct quotes out. Were you unable to read those? Was it too hard? Should we check and see if there's a simple english version of that wikipedia page for you?
> What for? Wikipedia is for idiots. Why would anyone at all care about the idiots?
Okay so can you provide a list of sources you consider valid? Since anybody who's made a compiler that's actually used is stupid and idiotic, the entire world is stupid and idiotic, wikipedia with sources is idiotic and stupid. Who besides you do you consider not stupid and idiotic?
Would the creator of Parser Expression Grammar be a valid source? Because Bryan Ford says
> Parsing Expression Grammars (PEGs) provide an alternative, recognition-based formal foundation for describing machine-oriented syntax, which solves the ambiguity problem by not introducing ambiguity in the first place. Where CFGs express nondeterministic choice between alternatives, PEGs instead use prioritized choice.
I assume that if his scientific paper isn't a good enough source then MIT itself is just full of stupid idiots too?
What about lambda the ultimate?
What about the MIT mailing list for PEG who reference this site that advocates for users to read the wikipedia entry on it. You know why it advocates that? Because Bryan Ford wrote the wikipedia page on it.
I could literally go all day finding more and more sources that directly contradict you, or reaffirm that the wikipedia entry is indeed correct. Could you find a single source besides yourself?
> Since when C++ is mainstream?
Since pretty much it's creation. Usage isn't even significantly dropping as it's doing a fairly good job of adding more and more features.
> And nobody would dare to call it a "general purpose"
Yeah nobody except for, you know the literal standard which has it as the first sentence of the second paragraph.
> designed explicitly for building eDSLs.
Where the hell did you get this idea? Seriously who told you this?
Because Bjarne Strousrup says that it
> was designed to provide Simula's facilities for program organization together with C's efficiency and flexibility for systems programming. It was intended to deliver that to real projects within half a year of the idea.
But he's probably an idiot too right? What would he possibly know about the reason why C++ was created?
> Objective fact is an implementation of error recovery operator. Which you claim is somehow "impossible" in PEG.
Nope never claimed that. Again you fail to be able to read.
What I claimed is that the naive trivial implementations where you auto-generate stuff does not support this well. You have to go very far out of your way to get decent error messages out of a parser generator. Which is why nobody making a widely used language uses them. And certainly even you can agree that adding the error recovery operator does mean you do more work than not having it.
> I demonstrated a PEG-based extensible parser generator that integrates with IDEs and literate programming tools automatically.
I didn't say it didn't do that. Just that it's rather shitty. You can get the barest minimum of features that are expected out of every IDE extension.
> What the fuck did you just say? It does not even mean anything.
I'm sorry, were those words too complicated for you? You wanted a single example because in your mind it was impossible to find a single example. I gave you one. You can't even understand literally the world's easiest set of requirements? Would you like a more thorough spec for the 5 minute task?
Or do you need another example because you're going to change your mind again and say something like "well actually the web is stupid and nobody uses websites".
wtf dude! I literally have this book in front of me:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accelerated-Practical-Programming-Example-Depth/dp/020170353X
xD
There's a pretty comprehensive list over at Stack Overflow.
That book is about $40 and someone who doesn't have the rights to it, can't legally give it away.
You're using it without permission and very likely, illegally. If you want to do that, fine, but don't pretend it's allowed.
http://www.amazon.com/Code-Complete-Practical-Handbook-Construction/dp/0735619670
http://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Elements-Reusable-Object-Oriented/dp/0201633612
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Design-Generic-Programming-Patterns/dp/0201704315
http://www.amazon.com/Refactoring-Improving-Design-Existing-Code/dp/0201485672
http://www.amazon.com/Coding-Standards-Rules-Guidelines-Practices/dp/0321113586
Also if you want something really challenging:
http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Programming-Volumes-1-4A-Boxed/dp/0321751043
http://www.amazon.com/Structure-Interpretation-Computer-Programs-Engineering/dp/0262510871
Free below:
https://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-4.html
>Classes without template parameters are not in a different type system then those with them.
Many people very strongly metaprogram in C++, using templates to make abstract types that bear no resemblance to traditional C++ classes, doing polymorphism, data hiding and various other cannonical aspects of classes without a class keyword in site. It quite clearly is a different type system, much more esoterically different than the one in ObjC, being compile time. We're not talking "classes with template parameters". It's a second, wholecloth type system. Interfaces (as java would call them) without the interface declaration.
>Also what the hell are "new style" vs "old style" template classes.
An old style template class is a class that works on a datatype or two which is templatized. A new style template class is something out of http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Design-Generic-Programming-Patterns/dp/0201704315 a very popular style in some shops.
>And what the hell are you even talking about with your "weird extra encapsulated ways"?
Class 1 has a private member variable to a second class called a Class1_impl which is a completely different class which implements the internals of Class1. This is an attempt to enforce data hiding from friending.
The reason I listed more than 2 type systems, is because I doubt you can say ALL the listed type systems I have are the same one. If even 2 of them are, C++ has "at least as many" as objective C does (or Java for that matter). If you've NOT encountered these esoterica, I just think you need to work in 2-4 more C++ shops and you definitely will. They're pretty common in my experience.
Here is a good resource to learn/improve your C++ skills.
[Book1] (http://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Language-4th/dp/0321563840/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1451948095&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+c%2B%2B+programming+language )
[Book2] (http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Specific-Improve-Programs-Designs/dp/0321334876/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1451948117&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=effective+c%2B%2B )
Book3
If you're mainly interested in Java, I would recommend Effective Java by Joshua Bloch. It's a great guide with recommendations for best practices in the language.
For C, the best book is The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie. I would recommend that you read that before ever looking at C++ because C++ is based on C. In fact, it's such a great book that I would recommend reading it before you read anything else on any language. You can skip the file system and Unix stuff though.
For C++, I have never found a good beginner book, so my suggestion would be that after you read the above C book, read the stuff in this tutorial and then read Effective C++ by Scott Meyers. It's another best practices book.
For Python, I've heard good things about Learning Python but I don't really know. I actually found it more useful to just go through the Python tutorial and then start making fun little scripts.
Hope that helps!
I've had to use C++ on and off. This book has been pretty good.
I've found this book to be quite a good book and is quite complete. It may be a bit of a jump into the deep end, but I feel as though they explain things simply enough, piece by piece.
http://www.amazon.com/C-Primer-Plus-5th-Edition/dp/0672326973/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1333572620&amp;sr=8-1
Also, C/C++ are GREAT first languages to learn. You have the opportunity to really understand how the computer itself functions with these languages, whereas with higher level languages, this type of understanding is quite easily lost as it becomes less important. It really depends on why you're learning it as to if it's a good first language or not.
Adaptive Code
https://www.amazon.com/Adaptive-Code-via-principles-Developer/dp/0735683204
I dont understand you kids these days. If you looking to learn something slightly complex BUY A FUCKING BOOK.
http://www.amazon.com/Professional-ASP-NET-MVC-Jon-Galloway/dp/1118794753
And get your employer to pay for it.
I'd recommend C Primer Plus, though to be honest it would be a much better investment to study C++ with C++ Primer Plus from the same author.
Do you have to go with C? C++ is better for beginners while still maintaining all the C things. If you absolutely have to go with C (which I'm assuming you are studying for coding systems - most likely embedded, or to maintain legacy code), the book I pointed out should start you out nicely.
If it is programming you want to learn, I'd recommend trying your hands at Java or Python or any interpreted OOP-focused language first. Java has very nice IDEs (Eclipse, NetBeans, etc.); it has its roots in C/C++ so it should help making the transition back and forth. C/C++ can be a mess to get the build environment set up correctly if you are not using an IDE like Visual Studio.
If you are in college, a lot of these technical books are free through your online library.
K&R is outdated. For the new C99 standard, you'll need something like C: A Reference Manual.