books, recommendation ( c++ )

[Mday]

for someone that does not know how to program, as in an introductory book that some college or AP class would use to teach programming with C++

what compiler is good? i have MS visual c++. but am willing to buy another compiler (academically priced ) if there is a better one.

i know nothing about programming, well not much. and will be starting an intro to CS course (equivalent to AP CS) with java.

I will not be able to take any c++ classes.

 

[DAM]

dont jump straight into c++ atleast not yet, focus completely in java, believe it will make the transition to c alot easier. as for c++ compilers theres a couple of free ones, i know i saw a thread about it just like 4 days ago, do a search.




dam()

 

[erector16]

I took a C++ course last year and the text we used was 'How to Program C++' by Deitel & Deitel. It was a very decent text and was easy to follow IMO. Here's a link to it at varsitybooks so you can see which one I'm talking about:

http://www.varsitybooks.com/detail.asp?dqs=4&aid=382505452&intProductID=013089571

 

[plebeian]

I think that Waite group's "C++ Primer Plus" by Stephen Prata is an excellent book. It may be a little too much for someone with absolutely no programming experience, though. It is quite formidable at 1000+ pages, but excellent. Newbies should avoid Stroustrup's book like the plague.

IMHO, stay the hell away from java (and object-oriented programing in general) if you're just starting out.

 

[HigherGround]

Java -> C++ -> C ( no its not a class indirection operator )...ok a few points have been made on this subject before, so I'll clarify and reiterate...learning Java, thus learing pure object oriented programming (OOP), and then trying to teach yourself a pure top-down language (such as C) is a bad idea. If you do grasp the basic concepts of OOP, any top-down language structure will seem completly unusable and inpractical. I'd suggest starting with C or C++ (as it is a hybrid between TD and OOP) and then moving to another languages such as Java. Also notice that C/C++ will force you to do memory managment, something you'll get for free in Java, thus knowing Java and trying pure OO C++ might also be a challenge because you'll have to worry about collecting the garbage As far as books go...i still occasionally use "C++ How to Program" by Deitel, Deitel...not much as guide, but more as a reference, but it looks like a solid C++ book that covers every basic/intermediate C/C++ concepts.

 

[duragezic]

I have been trying to learn C++ with Sam's Teach Yourself C++ in 21 days. I have kinda been slacking off and haven't did anything in two weeks but I'll start again I hope...

It's fairly easy to learn but the worst problem is you type in a program and I don't think the Ananlysis tells ya enough about what you typed and why/what it does.

Someone mentioned http://www.freeskills.com before and it looks pretty good (they have a C++ thing there).

 

[DAM]

i still think he should focus on java first and get the feel for programming first. remember he said he had no experience, and C or C++ just seem like too much to start up with.

personal experience, or the route i took was:

basic, vb, pascal, java, c/c++



dam(oh well)

 

[HigherGround]

hmmm...last time i checked Java required as much effort as C/C++. Starting in a top-down language will let him focus on language syntax, flow contral and other basics he has to pick up before getting fluent in that language. Java will force on him to not only grasp those concepts, but immediatly jump to OOP. Basically my point is learn to write a function before you write member methods, learn about operators in general before you start oveloading them, etc. Quite possibly You had an easier task of going back to C/C++ from Java because of Your prior experence with Pascal ( that was the first computing language i learned ), but for a complete newbie that jump might be to much.

 

[Mday]

NYU's intro to comp sci courses are all using java. there is no other language i can choose...

the only c++, undergrad, course is not open to those who are majoring in CS. very strange...

i do have some experience with pascal (turbo pascal for DOS) via NYU's no credit intro to computers & programming, which was a prereq. for intro to CS. it wasted my time (a whole year)... but i did learn something.

I know of the Deitel and Deitel books... they have a java one also... that is the book i was leaning towards, before i read some reviews that said the book was not written well... meaning, it's good, but written poorly... i may get that book though

i wanna learn c++ on my own, in my spare time... i do think starting it now will interfere with my CS class. so, i could always start during the winter break and go at my own pace.

thanks for your help.

I'll just add this, i don't wanna be a programmer. i am just doing the CS thing to boost my ongoing engineering degree.

 

[HigherGround]

Mday: I'm not a programmer, actually I hold a Computer Engineering degree, but programming in this day and age is a necessary evil, it is something I always wanted to avaid, but had to learn it anyway...You can't escape from the claws of coding

 

[Ponyboy25]

I don't remember the exact names of the books we used at DeVry, but I do remember that we used Borland C++, and I thought it was a pretty easy program for running my C/C++ labs. I've got Visual C++, but I haven't even needed to use that yet.

 

[downhiller80]

My route:

Age 11: BBC basic (lol)
Age 13: Acord Basic (more lol)
Age 11: QBasic (even bigger lol)
Age 15: Turbo Pascal (brilliant)
Age 17: Visual Basic
Age 19: Visual C++

I too am using that SAMS C++ in 21 days book and I think it's crap! However, for some reason I find myself inexplicable drawn to finish it. Just started again today after no programming for 6 months and did Days 1 - 9 today.

Seb

 

[alblinky]

MDay m8.. you appear to be doing the same course as me

BTec National Deploma in computer studies ?

dont tell me your at the same college ... i know the course is through out the nation

icq me m8 62467835 cos we can probably help each other out during the course