Re: Which of these C++ books is the "best" ?

From: Josh Sebastian (usenet_at_inglorion.com)
Date: 02/22/04 

Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2004 02:47:16 -0500

On 21 Feb 2004 19:52:32 -0800, Yayan <yayan19@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Our local bookstores, here in Indonesia only have limited selection of
> beginner C++ books.

Not all of the books in your list are beginner books.

> I've read and downloaded reviews from ACCu, unfortunately I can't find
> the recommended books. Yes, I know I can order from Amazon, but it
> would take 4-8 weeks, plus it's cheaper in here (I think it's they got
> special price for Asian countries).
>
> Given this limited selection, which one you would recommend for a
> novice (I have read some C++ online tutorials, but it's been a while)?

I'll snip out the ones I'm unfamiliar with.

> 1. Algorithms In C++, 3e: Part 1-4: Fundamentals, Data Structures,
> Sorting & Searching By ROBERT SEDGEWICK (1998)
>
> 2. Algorithms In C++: Part 5 Graph Algorithms, 3e By ROBERT SEDGEWICK
> (2002)

I've read older versions (it was in C, IIRC) of the first book. The book
is awesome, but it's *not* a C++ book. It's an algorithms book that
/happens/ to use C++ to implement the algorithms. If you want to learn
algorithms, read Sedgewick; if you want to learn the language, pass on it
(for now).

> 4. C++ FAQs, 2e By MARSHALL CLINE (1999)

I've never seen this book, but my understanding is that it's not quite a
tutorial book. It would still be useful to a beginner, but you'd need a
tutorial to go along with it, I think.

> 5. C++ How To Program, 4e By DEITEL (2003)
> The 3rd edition of this book got 3 different rating: recommended,
> recommended with reservation, and highly recommended (packaged as The
> Complete C++ Training Course)

I've heard great things about this book, and it's used in quite a few
schools.

> 8. C++: The Complete Reference, 4e By HERBERT SCHILDT (2003)
> The 2nd edition of this book is not recommended by ACCU reviewer, I
> don't know if it's much better now.

Herb Schildt is legendary for two things: his ability to write eloquently
and explain concepts exquisitely, and the frequency with which his
descriptions are incorrect. Rumour has it his recent works are better, but
I've flipped through one and found it quite lacking.

> 11. Effective C++, 2e By SCOTT MEYERS (1998)
>
> 12. Effective STL: 50 Specific Ways To Improve Your Use Of The
> Standard Template Library By SCOTT MEYERS (2001)
>
> 14. Exceptional C++: 47 Engineering Puzzles, Programming Problems And
> Solutions By HERB SUTTER (2000)

Those are for intermediate C++ programmers. They don't teach you the
basics of the language but rather focus on more advanced techniques. Good
books, all three (along with Meyers' _More Effective C++_).

> 18. The C++ Standard Libarary: A Tutorial And Reference By NICOLAI M.
> JOSUTTIS (1999)

This is an excellent reference book. This plus Stroustrup's TC++PL3 is
about all the reference I need for the standard language.

> I have Visual Studio .NET 2003 Academic Edition, and it has a huge
> documentation, and if I remember correctly, it has C++ Language
> Reference. It seems with this documentation I don't need Stroustrup's
> "The C++ Programming Language" (yet).

The MS docs for the Standard Library are excellent (as they simply
incorporated the Dinkumware docs), but the language reference portion is a
little wanting. You may want to reconsider TC++PL3.

> I've downloaded Thinking in C++, but the author says that the book is
> intended for reader with some knowledge in C.

I think that's an old notice. IIRC, the book was originally written as a
"teach a C programmer to use C++" type book, but was later rewritten for
those new to programming. I could be wrong, though.

> Or should I just use online tutorials for introduction, and buy more
> advanced C++ book?
> If so, which one would you recommend?

With a small handful of notable exceptions, there's very few good
C++ tutorials on the web. You'll /definitely/ want to go with a book. 

-- 
Josh

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