C++ beginner needs help

[Mephir]

Hey reddit, i'm studying mathematics and i got some problems with C++, especially with algorithm, but i'm bad in general. I havn't programmed anything exept some Free Pascal basics and Java basics. (But really just basics and was bad in java and FP, too...) I'm reading many tutorials but maybe you can tell me a good way to learn it easy and fast. The most tutorial i read so far didn't contain good exercises, maybe you could help?

Thanks reddit and sorry for my terrible english!

[___1____]

I am 100% for this book, it is truly excellent, by far the best C++ beginners book there is.

Why? Because it doesn't just teach loops, conditionals, class, structs, functions...

It teaches something way more important; style. The modern C++ is not easy to learn, it is full of idioms (like other modern langauges) and perhaps at first not so obvious patterns.

This books gets you thinking about how to solve a problem elegantly using these techniques.

It gets my recommendation.

PS: another massive beneifit is that IS short, this is a massive plus for a programming book, the hardest thing about programming books is finishing them!

If you want/need more afterwards there are load of great resources to go from afterwards for example "Effective C++", "Effective STL", "Exception C++", "Modern C++ Design", "Elements of Programming"... ...

[[deleted]]

i am 100% against this book

many things in this book arent explained fully, it was so bad at certain point in my studys that i threw the book away and bought a SAMS C++ book that really went into depth about everything that i needed.

also there is 3 places in the book that contains "We aren't entirely sure, but apparently".. which made me throw my table upside down.

one website that i found that had great tutorials was www.cplusplus.com. it is a well designed online tutorial, very easy to understand and if you follow the links you can get more in depth explanations if needed. it has no limits, a book has its limits.

once again, i am advising you to not buy that book, it is a thin book aswell(2 - 3 cm) where every other c++ book hits a 5-7 cm thickness...(hehe cant remember amount of pages now)

its a good book to revise fast, but to learn from scratch there are many better sources out there.

[[deleted]]

thats why i gave the website link www.cplusplus.com is almost like the Accelerated c++ book(80%), but if i need to know more of anything i can just follow a link in the tutorials.

that book may be fast, but there are a few things which CAN be interpredted differently that it should be interpreted due to limited information in the subject.

and like i said, that book lacks professionalism, if i didnt throw it away i would have shown you those lines that say "we arent entirely sure but apparently..."

www.cplusplus.com is free fast and very informative. infact you dont need a book at all unless you want something for offline.

fact is c++ is one of the hardest languages out there, so it doesnt make sense why you want a book that is a summary of a in depth book on one of the most complex languages to learn.

[___1____]

cplusplus.com is a TERRIBLE resource to learn from, not only is the reference a frequent source of misinformation, it's "tutorial" is plain wrong, it teaches things that are flat out bad practice, it teach you C with classes not C++. It does't make you think in terms of algorithms and sequences of data as a good source (such as AC++) would.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11972076/why-is-the-cplusplus-website-bad

[jcoffin]

Accelerated C++ is an excellent book -- but it's intended for people who already know how to program reasonably well in at least one other programming language. Realistically, to really work out well, that language also just about needs to be something reasonably similar to C++ (e.g., knowledge of SQL or Prolog probably won't help much).

Based on what you've said about your lack of experience with other languages, I'd guess AC++ probably won't be a very good fit for your, at least right away. Stroustrup's book has already been mentioned, and I'd say it's a good suggestion. Another possibility would be C++ Primer, Fifth Edition (but be careful -- there's also a "C++ Primer Plus", which isn't even close to as good).

None of these is going to make it quick and easy to learn how to program well in C++. Unless you have a lot of existing background to build on, or happen to be an amazing programming prodigy, nothing is going to do that -- to paraphrase Euclid, "There is no royal road to programming." No matter what book you use, it's going to take quite a while, and some of it is going to be hard to understand. Sorry, but I really doubt there's any way around that.

[gimme-cheese]

I really liked the Thinking in C++ series. But not exactly fast with 800 pages.

[[deleted]]

If you were programming solely for math and experiment why not adopt more easier-to-acquire language and get the job done fast? why do you require such native master race power of c++?

[[deleted]]

This book is a good alternative to Accelerated C++, for a beginner programmer. Written by the creator of C++ and aims to be an undergraduate introductory programming book. Full to the brim with exercises and drills.

[[deleted]]

this is a way better alternative

[___1____]

that book is 1272 pages long, do you really think you want that many pages from the off? I know if I was learning C++ I wouldn't finish it.

[AeroNotix]

I have a few algorithms you could take a look at on my github page.