Best book(s) for learning Java or C++

GirMoose

GirMoose

GirMoose

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Hey folks,

I'm looking to get back into learning programming. I did a very basic course in C a fair few years ago and really enjoyed it.

As of now I'm still not entirely sure if I want to jump into Java or C++. Anyone have any suggestions for a. which would be better, and b. what would be the best book(s) to get hold of to learn them with?

I prefer having a physical book rather than an e-book/online tutorials (although I will indeed use these as well, so don't hesitate to throw some ideas for those in too!).

Thanks!
 
It wholly depends on what kind of things you wish to develop down the road. Simple windows apps that don't require native performance can easily be done in C# or Java, low level stuff in C or C++ (but more likely C).
 
To be honest I'm just trying to get back into programming as im fed up of sitting around when im not in work being bored :P As for the "down the road" plan, I have always been interesting in game programming. I did a college course on computer game design. It was 3d modelling/photoshop/flash etc. to get people an idea of what all the different parts were like. The programming we did was by far the most entertaining part, I was constantly spending my own time doing stuff just to see if I could get it to work. Doing silly little things like Number guessing games, hangman etc. when the course work was dealing with what arrays were.
 
Have you thought about C# ? 3dbuzz.com has an interesting xna c# video game dvd training and is really good for learning about object oriented programming.

C Primer Plus by Stephen Prata is a really good beginner C book so id imagine his follow up C++ Primer Plus would be a good book to.

I haven't read it but I think C++ Programming for the Absolute Beginner teaching the language with simple game examples like you mentioned number guessing etc.
 
Hmm, perhaps, it is 7 years old at this point! Not sure really what to do for the next month or so while I would be waiting for that though. Anyone know of anything similar that is more up to date and currently available?
 
I think that very good complete beginner books are the "Sams Teach Yourself... " series... all very good, but you will out grow them quickly.
 
Hmm, interesting thread. Getting that book may not be a bad idea. I had a browse through the forum that eventually came about from that project and having that sort of backing does indeed make it seem quite good. Just a shame I'm not getting back into this stuff when that was starting up! ;)
 
Unless you want to go into programming in a big way I would recommend Java or C#.

C++ can get very complicated very quickly as you have to understand the difference between a pointer and a reference and have to learn how to manage memory effectively.

Where as Java and C# handle all this for you so all you have to worry about is your design.

You don't really need to go and buy books either there are plenty of on-line resources available including tutorials. In fact Microsoft support website has some great C# tutorials.
 
I would second the C# notion. With Mono it's now compatible with Linux and Mac OS, so that's no longer a problem. There're also lots of libraries you can use with C#, especially for games development like:
XNA
SDL.NET
OpenTK
TAO.NET

All of which provide good performance because their 3D functionality is all done with full hardware acceleration (mostly they use OpenGL, but XNA wraps around DirectX).
 
Lightnix said:
I would second the C# notion. With Mono it's now compatible with Linux and Mac OS, so that's no longer a problem.
Click to expand...

I didn't realise something like this was available, it looks very interesting. Cheers :). C# =
smileyloveheartlk8.gif
 
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