>If you happen to be already reading something other than >the books above, seriously consider supplementing or >replacing your book with the above. which is usually not needed. There are good books on that list, but telling people to "replace their books," is probably not the wisest choice. There are plenty of good books out there, as long as they follow standards you should be fine.
Thanks, Tyler Littlefield Web: tysdomain.com email: [email protected] My programs don't have bugs, they're called randomly added features. ----- Original Message ----- From: Thomas Hruska To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2009 9:26 AM Subject: Re: [c-prog] New group member Dave wrote: > Hello to the group. My name is Dave and I'm in north-central PA. I'm 60 years old and a newcomer to C++ programming. I used to do some basic programming years ago, so I do have a little knowledge base to start with, but the skills are very rusty! > > My goal is not to be an application developer, except for small Windows apps for my own personal use. > > I've downloaded and installed the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express edition, and would like to ask the group what would be a good beginner's guide for me to look over to get started. > > Thanks, and I look forward to the information that flows through this group! > > Dave "Good morning, Dave" - :) (Obligatory '2001: A Space Odyssey' reference...or 'Independence Day', whichever) The best resource is a good book. This group is your second-best resource - you will glean a LOT of knowledge from just lurking. C/C++ are not easy languages to learn. They take time, patience, and perseverance, which is why C/C++ books are still better than online resources (e.g. tutorials). BTW, you are off to an excellent start already - better than most four year college programs. When you joined c-prog, you should have received an e-mail containing the group welcome message. In that message was a list of books that you should read. Just in case you missed the message, here is that list of books again and the order in which you should be reading them: "Accelerated C++" by Koenig and Moo (ISBN #020170353X) "Safe C++ Design Principles" by Thomas Hruska "The C++ Standard Library" by Nicolai Josuttis (ISBN #0201379260) "Effective C++" by Scott Meyers (ISBN #0201924889) "More Effective C++" by Scott Meyers (ISBN #020163371X) If you are learning or looking to learn C, consider learning C++ instead. It is much more versatile and offers powerful features that C doesn't offer. If you happen to be already reading something other than the books above, seriously consider supplementing or replacing your book with the above. If you can't afford the books mentioned, Bruce Eckel offers "Thinking in C++" for free from his website: http://mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html And the group owner, Thomas Hruska, has generously donated his book "Safe C++ Design Principles" to c-prog group members for free: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/c-prog/files/Books/ Beware any C/C++ author who does not adhere closely to the ANSI C/C++ Standard. One very popular author is Yashavant Kanetkar who is the author of "Let Us C". His writing may be simple to understand however his code is non-ANSI Standard. Similar great writers have shown up over the years who tell wonderful stories but don't adhere to the Standards defined by the ANSI C/C++ committees. You should also obtain at least copy of a draft copy of the ANSI C/C++ Standard. Draft copies are free and c-prog links to quite a few of them here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/c-prog/links/Standards_001012496381/ -- Thomas Hruska CubicleSoft President Ph: 517-803-4197 *NEW* MyTaskFocus 1.1 Get on task. Stay on task. http://www.CubicleSoft.com/MyTaskFocus/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
