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Intermediate C++ books

Started by dolphins87 Dec 28, 2007 at 1:14 AM 9 replies 2.2k views

Original Post

Dec 28, 2007 at 1:14 AM

I have been through C++ in 24 hours, some tutorials online and C++ Game Progamming by Dawson and I have learned alot but I want to understand more and get more in depth. I have been doing some research. I am also made a simple text based game with polymorphism, memory allocation etc.. so I can use so of the techniques. I have recently just started on SDL as my first API to try something to learn graphics but not something extremly complex so I get so worn down and frustrated. But since looking online and different books in stores I have heard good things abouts Effective C++ and More Effective C++. I don't really have any experience with STL or templates. I have worked with vectors a little bit in Dawson's book but thats about all I have seen and I was wondering what would be some good choice. I have really had the chance to look at Effective STL but I dont have any experience with STL so would it be better to learn STL then get into Effective STL? I am planning on making my first graphics game Tic-Tac-Toe with SDL so I can learn the basics of SDL and handle some mouse inputs etc... to a program with some graphics under my belt then move on to something like tetris. But any input would be grealy appericated.

MassacrerAL

Dec 28, 2007 at 4:17 AM

well i know thats not what you were asking for but i

ll tell you my opinion. consider learning c# and .net instead of more advanced c++ and stl. once you know that much in c++ then learning c# is a breeze and .net base libraries are imho far better choice then stl. i don

t know if sdl runs in .net though.

daviangel

Dec 28, 2007 at 4:41 AM

Get this book
or
the book by the creator of the language
since they cover 100% of the technical details you will need to program in C++.

They are the only 2 C++ books I own and I have alot that actually cover the problem with trying to create a class inside a switch case statement like this and explains why it doesn't work:
void
A::foo(int c)
{
switch(c) {
case FOOBAR_1:
XyzClass buf(100);
// stuff
break;
}
}

Great_White

Dec 28, 2007 at 11:59 AM

you can also try Bruce Eckel's books: "Thinking in C++ vol. 1-2". I think they are an excellent resource in this subject.

Hylas

Dec 28, 2007 at 12:04 PM

Quote:
Original post by MassacrerAL
well i know thats not what you were asking for but ill tell you my opinion. consider learning c# and .net instead of more advanced c++ and stl. once you know that much in c++ then learning c# is a breeze and .net base libraries are imho far better choice then stl. i dont know if sdl runs in .net though.

If you're going to try and be a nazi C# convert at least know what you are talking about.

yaustar

Dec 28, 2007 at 12:19 PM

Code Complete is a damn good book to read for any programmer. It covers general programmer practises and thought processes rather then language.

Effective C++ is a must read for any C++ programmer as it deals with some of the more obscure areas and common gotchas of the C++ language as well as common idioms.

Thinking in C++ Vol 1 and 2 can be downloaded legally for free from the author's site. Vol 1 is about the C++ language and Vol 2 covers the Standard Library.

If you are interested in SDL resources then Lazy Foo's site is one of the best.

dmreichard

Dec 28, 2007 at 12:22 PM

Quote:
Original post by Hylas
Quote:
Original post by MassacrerAL
well i know thats not what you were asking for but ill tell you my opinion. consider learning c# and .net instead of more advanced c++ and stl. once you know that much in c++ then learning c# is a breeze and .net base libraries are imho far better choice then stl. i dont know if sdl runs in .net though.

If you're going to try and be a nazi C# convert at least know what you are talking about.

Agreed

Hippie Geek

Dec 28, 2007 at 1:19 PM

After the basics, which books you pick really depends on which direction you'd like to focus on. You may want to grab a book like "Introduction to 3d game programming with directx" or "Beginning OpenGL game programming" or even "Focus on SDL" if you'd like a change from the console monotony. You can probably handle most everything those books throw at you, and they will probably be more fun.

As most intro books leave a lot out I really would suggest giving the "C++ Programming Language" book by Stroustrup a once over.. At the point where it mostly all makes sense, I think one can safely say they're at an intermediate level. However Intermediate to advanced books I recommend that will improve your overall coding practices and C++ ability are.

The C++ Programming Language
Effective C++
More Effective C++
Code Complete
C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices
The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference
Effective STL
Exceptional C++
More Exceptional C++
Exceptional C++ style
C++ Templates The complete guide
C++ Cookbook

There are really way to many good books to list, especially once you've got the basics down but those are a few that I think are helpful, just be sure not to burn yourself out.

[Edited by - Hippie Geek on December 28, 2007 2:19:31 PM]

dolphins87

Dec 28, 2007 at 8:37 PM

thanks for all the suggestions I've picked up Effective C++ today and gonna go through it and read it. I am using lazy foo's website for SDL right now and am about half way through the tutorials. With C++ what i am worried about and saw a little bit of it when I went through Dawson's book was that it has alot of C++ stuff in it and since I had aldery went through C++ in 24 hours alot of the things in Dawson's book went over stuff I aldery knew but I also learned alot of stuff dont get me wrong. But I got bored with stuff that I aldery knew and had to motivate myself to get through those sections but I loved going through stuff I didnt know. I dont want to pick up a book thats a good size and start at the beginning again but is that the best way to do it go through everything again or skip the basic stuff in a book and go to the stuff you want to better understand?

daviangel

Dec 28, 2007 at 9:31 PM

Quote:
Original post by dolphins87
thanks for all the suggestions I've picked up Effective C++ today and gonna go through it and read it. I am using lazy foo's website for SDL right now and am about half way through the tutorials. With C++ what i am worried about and saw a little bit of it when I went through Dawson's book was that it has alot of C++ stuff in it and since I had aldery went through C++ in 24 hours alot of the things in Dawson's book went over stuff I aldery knew but I also learned alot of stuff dont get me wrong. But I got bored with stuff that I aldery knew and had to motivate myself to get through those sections but I loved going through stuff I didnt know. I dont want to pick up a book thats a good size and start at the beginning again but is that the best way to do it go through everything again or skip the basic stuff in a book and go to the stuff you want to better understand?

Start writing some long and tough C++ programs. That's the only way you are gonna get any better at it--not by reading more books.
I don't remember how many C++ books I read until that epiphany really sunk into my brain?

dolphins87

Dec 28, 2007 at 10:31 PM

that definatley makes alot of sense if u dont apply the stuff you have learn you can never truly understand it. But if there ever a sense of going to far and getting in over your head or should I just start off small with something like Tic-Tac-Toe, then tetris and then mabye a side scroller all with SDL.

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