Re: Good C++ book
Jeff Schwab wrote:
red floyd wrote:
I am lloking for a good C++ book that can teach me all the
aspect of the language, possibly explaining more complex object
scenarios (multiple inheritance, abstract class and virtul methods,
templates, etc) in a "theoretical" way too. I need a good section on
STL too (well not a cut and past of the reference... :P ).
[Victor said something to the effect of "that's like deciding to climb
Everest this weekend, you need to rethink the amount of time involved,
here are some good leads, and may the force be with you."]
In addition to what Victor suggested, I recommend "Accelerated C++"
by Koenig and Moo.
I've seen that book highly recommended for beginners a bajillion
times. Is it still worth reading by practicing C++ developers, or is
just meant to be a gentle introduction that gives a better foundation
than the "C++ By Numbers" style books?
It's an interesting thought. And I've thought it for all of the
last minute. Here is what came out of it.
If you give a practicing carpenter a book on how to drive nails or how
to saw wood, he may even humour you and give it a read (when he has
a bit of time free from practicing carpentry). However, even if there
are gems in the book that our carpenter could use in his everyday wood
sawing nail driving activities, he is likely to miss them again while
reading the book in that bit of spare time. Unless a more experienced
carpenter comes along, looks at our carpenter's work and gives a few
life-changing suggestions (like, "oh, man, have you been holding that
saw upside down"), the real need our carpenter has is a good manual on
how to use that pneumatic nail driving thing or that electical table
saw.
Skimming over a beginner book is a waste of time because anything with
a deep enough meaning is most likely going to be skipped over (if there
is anything with a deep meaning in a beginner book), because sometimes
things get skipped over when you skim over a book. Reading the book in
such a way that nothing with a deep meaning escapes the trained mind
is also a waste of time because most of the time is spent while trying
to find the deep meaning in something that does not have it. It's
a beginner book, FCOL.
So, for me, a prerequisite for getting the most use out of a beginner
book would be *unlearning* what you already know first. Is that at
all possible? I doubt it. Especially if you don't have enough time
to begin with, anyway.
V
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