8 ms·

Considering that C++ has evolved a lot over the years (and grown quite large), what are good resources for a programmer to get started with the language in 2019

by freyr 7y ago

Considering that C++ has evolved a lot over the years (and grown quite large), what are good resources for a programmer to get started with the language in 2019? I've heard Accelerated C++ is a good introduction, but it's quite old at this point. Would Accelerated C++ followed by Effective Modern C++ bring someone up to speed with modern C++? Is there a single book or online resource that would service this purpose better?

umanwizard 7y ago
“A tour of C++” (second edition) by Stroustrup is a great starting point.
colmvp 7y ago
I've been learning C++ for the first time starting in 2019. I used Marc Gregoire's Professional C++ which has a version that was published last year and includes C++17, alongside Scott Meyer's line of books, and watching a variety of YouTube videos (e.g. Jason Turner, CPP talks...)
- ExtremisAndy 7y ago
  I second the recommendation of Professional C++. I am just a self-taught programmer, and to be quite honest, felt I was getting in a bit over my head by buying a book aimed at professionals. But I have found the material to be perfectly accessible even for someone without a CS degree, and I am now using C++ for my personal projects. I cannot recommend that book highly enough. Just my $.02
bvod 7y ago
C++ is deep and nuanced, so reading books will help structure your learning. I've found Scott Meyer's books to be great for starting out. Those will give you a fantastic foundation, from which you can dive deeper. Those and others have added significantly to my ability to write clean and maintainable software. This SO post is a great guide for where to look: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-...
Bekwnn 7y ago
I'll second Scott Meyers and add that Essential C++ covers the most fundamental parts of the language. Books beyond that tend to cover much more specific and optional tools. Reading Essential C++ cover-to-cover was very worthwhile in my job as a programmer in AAA games. Books beyond that have mostly involved thumbing around different items to see which I might find useful at some point. Games in particular tend to be very performance sensitive, but also compile-time and debug-performance-sensitive. A lot of the STL is not as respectful of those latter two, meaning a lot of game code uses little or even none of the STL. (Working with UE4 will involve using none, for example.) I'd definitely focus more attention on understanding core language features that the huge amount of content that exists in the STL. By far the best element of C++ that a lot of other languages lack is const and const-correctness. The second best would be the robust features templates have in comparison to generics of other languages (though the applications allowed by that robustness can be mildly horrifying at times).
- mehrdadn 7y ago
  > By far the best element of C++ that a lot of other languages lack is const and const-correctness. Add to that volatile-correctness... which most people aren't even aware of. http://www.drdobbs.com/cpp/volatile-the-multithreaded-programmers-b/184403766 http://www.drdobbs.com/cpp/volatile-the-multithreaded-progra...
  - aarongolliver 7y ago
    This article is nearly 2 decades old and gives very bad advice for multithreaded c++ programming. To a first approximation, volatile should never be used for multithreading safety.
    - mehrdadn 7y ago
      That 2-decade-old article took some 5+ pages to thoroughly explain its ideas. Turns out it was (and still is) pretty compelling, and the changes in these past 2 decades don't really affect what it's saying. You, who've surely carefully read the article, understood it in its entirety, and played around with the notion to get a feel for its upsides and downsides, very insightfully reduced it all down to "very bad advice" with zero elaboration. You find that compelling? I would be careful with those "first-order approximations".
bloodorange 7y ago
It's hard to name just a single resource and some HN mates have already listed excellent resources. I'd like to add a little bit that perhaps someone will find useful: - Books by B. Stroustrup are excellent if you already know programming. I wish for a new edition of "The C++ Programming Language" to be honest. I learnt a lot of useful "tips" from many books but only by reading his books was I able to see why C++ made certain choices. That really helped me "level up".
mhh__ 7y ago
Stroustrup -> Meyers -> Alexandrescu (optional but lots of very clever ideas)
tdsamardzhiev 7y ago
I recommend going through some recent CppCon presentations, especially these by committee members and people who implemented features/libraries -- Bjarne Stroustrup, Herb Sutter, Howard Hinnant, Chandler Carruth, etc. Also have a look at Mike Acton's DOD videos -- he'll tell you that modern c++ (and even oop) is garbage, and he'll be right for his own particular case :)
pjmlp 7y ago
Tour of C++, 2nd edition, from Bjarne Stroustroup is quite good to get to know all major updates how to write good C++20 code (the book goes through all relevant updates since C++11).

by freyr 7y ago

umanwizard 7y ago

“A tour of C++” (second edition) by Stroustrup is a great starting point.

colmvp 7y ago

I've been learning C++ for the first time starting in 2019. I used Marc Gregoire's Professional C++ which has a version that was published last year and includes C++17, alongside Scott Meyer's line of books, and watching a variety of YouTube videos (e.g. Jason Turner, CPP talks...)

ExtremisAndy 7y ago
I second the recommendation of Professional C++. I am just a self-taught programmer, and to be quite honest, felt I was getting in a bit over my head by buying a book aimed at professionals. But I have found the material to be perfectly accessible even for someone without a CS degree, and I am now using C++ for my personal projects. I cannot recommend that book highly enough. Just my $.02

bvod 7y ago

C++ is deep and nuanced, so reading books will help structure your learning. I've found Scott Meyer's books to be great for starting out. Those will give you a fantastic foundation, from which you can dive deeper. Those and others have added significantly to my ability to write clean and maintainable software. This SO post is a great guide for where to look: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-...

Bekwnn 7y ago

I'll second Scott Meyers and add that Essential C++ covers the most fundamental parts of the language. Books beyond that tend to cover much more specific and optional tools. Reading Essential C++ cover-to-cover was very worthwhile in my job as a programmer in AAA games. Books beyond that have mostly involved thumbing around different items to see which I might find useful at some point. Games in particular tend to be very performance sensitive, but also compile-time and debug-performance-sensitive. A lot of the STL is not as respectful of those latter two, meaning a lot of game code uses little or even none of the STL. (Working with UE4 will involve using none, for example.) I'd definitely focus more attention on understanding core language features that the huge amount of content that exists in the STL. By far the best element of C++ that a lot of other languages lack is const and const-correctness. The second best would be the robust features templates have in comparison to generics of other languages (though the applications allowed by that robustness can be mildly horrifying at times).

mehrdadn 7y ago
> By far the best element of C++ that a lot of other languages lack is const and const-correctness. Add to that volatile-correctness... which most people aren't even aware of. http://www.drdobbs.com/cpp/volatile-the-multithreaded-programmers-b/184403766 http://www.drdobbs.com/cpp/volatile-the-multithreaded-progra...
- aarongolliver 7y ago
  This article is nearly 2 decades old and gives very bad advice for multithreaded c++ programming. To a first approximation, volatile should never be used for multithreading safety.
  - mehrdadn 7y ago
    That 2-decade-old article took some 5+ pages to thoroughly explain its ideas. Turns out it was (and still is) pretty compelling, and the changes in these past 2 decades don't really affect what it's saying. You, who've surely carefully read the article, understood it in its entirety, and played around with the notion to get a feel for its upsides and downsides, very insightfully reduced it all down to "very bad advice" with zero elaboration. You find that compelling? I would be careful with those "first-order approximations".

bloodorange 7y ago

It's hard to name just a single resource and some HN mates have already listed excellent resources. I'd like to add a little bit that perhaps someone will find useful: - Books by B. Stroustrup are excellent if you already know programming. I wish for a new edition of "The C++ Programming Language" to be honest. I learnt a lot of useful "tips" from many books but only by reading his books was I able to see why C++ made certain choices. That really helped me "level up".

mhh__ 7y ago

Stroustrup -> Meyers -> Alexandrescu (optional but lots of very clever ideas)

tdsamardzhiev 7y ago

I recommend going through some recent CppCon presentations, especially these by committee members and people who implemented features/libraries -- Bjarne Stroustrup, Herb Sutter, Howard Hinnant, Chandler Carruth, etc. Also have a look at Mike Acton's DOD videos -- he'll tell you that modern c++ (and even oop) is garbage, and he'll be right for his own particular case :)

pjmlp 7y ago

Tour of C++, 2nd edition, from Bjarne Stroustroup is quite good to get to know all major updates how to write good C++20 code (the book goes through all relevant updates since C++11).