Good C++ book

[Achtung]

I've been looking for a good book to polish up my C/C++ skills. I'm by no means a beginner to the languages, but I haven't really used them at all outside of a classroom environment, so I figure it might be a good idea to have a good teaching/reference book to get refreshed. It seems all the books at Amazon.com get mixed reviews, with half the reviewers hating any given book, and the other half loving it. I want something that can help me get from where I am, to being comfortable with using C++ to update others' code, write small, useful programs, etc. I don't know if any book exists to go from beginner to advanced stages of programming, but if there is anything good, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

[singh]

Reference Book 1
The C++ Programming Language (Special 3rd Edition)
by Bjarne Stroustrup

[NOTE: This is mainly a reference book, but I use it all the time as a refresher]

Amazon Link


Reference Book 2
The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference
by Nicolai M. Josuttis

Amazon Link

 

[kylef]

The Stroustrup book is a veritable goldmine of knowledge. He even sneaks in a miniature compiler as an example program in chapter 5 or 6 (I forget which). I would rate it less useful as a reference only because it can be difficult to find specific API information about the STL, for instance.

Keep in mind that Stroustrup assumes his audience is either already familiar with C or has previous C++ experience. Some of the chapters are fairly dense and require some careful reading.