Any recommendations for a good beginner's book on C++?

Cp Coder

My daughter, who has no experience programming, needs to learns C++ for a course she is taking. Can anybody recommend a good book for a greenhorn to learn C++? Thanks!

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markrlondon

I found 'Ivor Horton's Beginning Visual C++ 2012' very helpful. As the name suggests, it focuses on VC++ but it teaches things generically enough to learn about any other C++ variants. The 2012 version is of course out of date now but I think there are newer versions and it would still be good enough to learn C++ in general. Non-affiliate Amazon UK link: Ivor Horton′s Beginning Visual C++ 2012: Amazon.co.uk: Horton, Ivor: 9781118368084[^] I see that there's a newer Ivor Horton book for generic C++ published in October 2020: 'Beginning C++20: From Novice to Professional'. Non-affiliate link: Beginning C++20: From Novice to Professional: Amazon.co.uk: Horton, Ivor, Van Weert, Peter: 9781484258835: Books[^]

honey the codewitch

Accelerated C++ is the only book I recommended for teaching C++ - i recommend it to beginners and seasoned developers alike (it's a great refresher). It's accessible, brief, cheap, and kicks elephant because it teaches C++ using *generic programming* which is how the STL was designed to be used. By Andrew Koenig and Barbara Moo Used for $20 USD or so.

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David ONeil

She might be interested in the C++ tutorial in my sig. It is a good, quick introduction.

The Science of King David's Court | Object Oriented Programming with C++

realJSOP

Doesn't the course material include teaching her C++? And isn't there a recommended reading list for the course?

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RickZeeland

Here is a list: best-resources-to-learn-c-c[^]

Lost User

I'd find out more about this "course". C++ is not exactly a "minor"; unless you're taking Computer Science.

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MarkTJohnson

That professor is just mean.

I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated.

Martin ISDN

i'll repeat what i like others suggested: "Accelerated C++: Practical Programming by Example" and add my my 2¢ of going through C++ by the C route "Teach Yourself C++ In 21 Days". it's that "has no experience programming" that scares me in the same sentence with C++.

Stuart Dootson

I'll recommend [this Pluralsight course by Kate Gregory](https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/learn-program-cplusplus) - more because I've seen extracts of this course and the philosophy behind it (teach C++, not 'C with a bit of ++'). And as Pluralsight do a free trial, your daughter can try it for nothing.

Course FAQ

Who is this course for? This course is aimed at those who have never programmed before.

What will I learn in this course? Learn how to get the tools to develop in C++ and basics like building and running an application, then discover how to use classes from the C++ Standard Library and how to write and use your own functions and classes.

What prerequisites do I need? Before beginning the course, you should be familiar with editing text files on your operating system and that's it.

What software is required? There are text editors that come with your operating system, and then you need a compiler and a linker, and they very often come together.

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Rob Bachrach

My favorite has always been "Thinking in C++" by Bruce Eckel. He's a journalist first and a software developer second. This makes the books very easy to read, even for non-programmers.

JeffL45

Thumbs up for Kate Gregory. She is an effective teacher. Easy to follow and understand.

SeattleC

I wrote a book with two other authors called The C++ Workbench, which teaches C++. It doesn't teach all of C++, but focuses on the fundamentals. One feature is that it uses online C++ compilers that run in your browser so learning is as frictionless as possible. I'd actually be interested to learn if people like the approach in this book.

matblue25

If you're saying she's taking a course where she needs to KNOW C++ but it isn't being taught in the course, then I would recommend taking a different course, or taking a C++ course first. Trying to learn C++ at the same time you're supposed to be using it in a course is a losing proposition, especially if she has no experience programming.

NightPen

Not a book but it's free... W3 schools C++ Tutorial[^] takes you though the basics and lets you interactively try things out.

Rusty Bullet

I read the list of reccomendations and did not see this one. "C++ How To Program: Introducing Object-Oriented Design with the UML" by Deitel & Deitel. Easy to read, well organized and covers the things likely to be used in basic object oriented C++ programming. Others mentioned that I would second are "Effective C++", PluralSight training and "Thinking in C++", although the last one is rather basic.

Gary R Wheeler

Given my daughter's experience with such courses, their 'textbook' is usually a class guide written as a master's thesis project by the graduate assistant teaching the class. These are uniformly awful, poorly written, and of low technical quality.

Software Zen: delete this;

Gary R Wheeler

Thumbs up! I took a C++ programming class from Bruce a loooooong time ago, and his writing was very, very good.

Software Zen: delete this;

hpcoder2

Having learned it this way, I always recommend Stroustrup's "C++ Programming Language". Read it cover to cover. Yes it will take a while, but its worth it. Then after perhaps a year of C++ experience, pick up Scott Meyer's "Effective C++", both editions. And/or his more recent variants of the same thing. C++ takes a long time to learn to use properly. I've been coding in C++ nearly 30 years now, and I'm still learning stuff. Though I'd like to think I'm and effective C++ coder :-D