A few years ago I took a CS class and did some programming in C++. Nothing too complex, IMO, it was afterall only one semester.
So now I’m kind of interested in really getting into programming, and am looking for suggestions on a good book to use as a teaching tool. Any suggestions? I’ll want to start from the ground up, so it should be a book for people new to programming itself, not just the specific language.
I’ve used quite a few (I’m no pro, I got into programming a while back, have since laid off). Here’s some opinions:
C++ For Dummies-Don’t. Just don’t. Some people found it useful. I found it to be incredibly awful.
C++ Programming For The Absolute Beginner-I found this to be a great book, mainly because it has you actually programming games from the start, rather than writing things that say “This is a loop. Isn’t this exciting?” I mean cheesy little text-based games all the way to DirectX kinda stuff. Downside is there are quite a few errors in the code, and sometimes the examples cover stuff you haven’t actually learned.
C++ in 21 Days/24 hours/10 Minutes/Anything by Jesse Liberty-The Liberty books from Sam’s are considered the “standard” for the field, at least on the programming boards I used to hang around on. The 21 Days version is a tome and is actually useful as a reference. Liberty, however, has an obsession with making you learn every single little last thing down to the most obscure…well, it’s like a long slog, basically.
Complete Idiot’s Guide to C+±I flipped through this and it seemed engaging and well thought-out.
That Ivor Horton Book-I couldn’t read it. The creepy old man gave me the heebie jeebies.
There are two schools of thought: One that says you should learn C first and then learn C++ and the other says “Screw C! Learn C++”. Unfortunately, the books don’t indicate which school they belong to and so you may learn some C++ only to bring home a more-advanced shiny new book…all in C.
You also may want to try the Intro to C++ course at GameInstitute.com. It was a pretty solid class, going through some growing pains when I took it, but very interesting and the class structure gives you some week-to-week reason to push on.
Also, you may want to look into Java programming, as I’ve been told it’s much easier to learn and about as powerful. Although that could start a language war (the Java partisans can be tres hardcore).