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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!
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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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.
Real programmers use butterflies
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She might be interested in the C++ tutorial in my sig. It is a good, quick introduction.
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Doesn't the course material include teaching her C++? And isn't there a recommended reading list for the course?
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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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;
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I'd find out more about this "course". C++ is not exactly a "minor"; unless you're taking Computer Science.
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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That professor is just mean.
I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated.
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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++.
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I'll recommend this Pluralsight course by Kate Gregory - 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.
Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p
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Thumbs up for Kate Gregory. She is an effective teacher. Easy to follow and understand.
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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.
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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;
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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.
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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.
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Not a book but it's free... W3 schools C++ Tutorial[^] takes you though the basics and lets you interactively try things out.
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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.
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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 
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Both just a couple of cheap knockoffs of "C".
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Both C# and Java see so much further, because they stand on the shoulders of C! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Alas, they seem to spend too much time looking down and contemplating their own navals. The lucky ones see belly-button LINT.
(The rest of the time just awaiting the next upgrade and amazing new features they could never have done without)
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Or expensive knockoffs of C++, which is an expensive knockoff of C.
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