Books for C++/C# - Developers

I'm fairly well aknowledged in how C++/C# works, but I've learned by practice and never even though of reading a book about it ..but now my friend (who shares interests with me) has upcoming birthday and I want to buy him two books that'll get him started with C++ and C#. I would be most grateful if you brought up few titles (book doesn't have to be in Polish, it can be in English aswell) - even better if the book is just one episode that has everything from begineer to advanced level. Thanks in advance!

The C++ Programming Language (4th Edition) by Bjarne Stroustrup, a great book to learn C++ from. You also have Effective C++ by Scott Meyers, I'm sure you can understand from the title that it's for when he is more familiar with the language :smile: . Happy Birthday to your friend, that is a pretty awesome gift !

He is familiar with programming as he has done some python in his life, aswell as majority of web languages (PHP, JavaScript, jQuery, et cetera) - but he needs a book he can start with. Let me quote him: "I would love to get into C++ a bit more, but I've never gotten past creating own functions, classes and such".

If he isn't a self starter I would not be getting him a C++ book to teach himself.

[QUOTE=Proclivitas;50946786]If he isn't a self starter I would not be getting him a C++ book to teach himself.[/QUOTE] What do you mean? He did start learning C++ and he understands the basics (the minimum), so I decided to get him a book that'll cover what he needs to know further.

I've always loved: C++ For Dummies. [url="http://bookzz.org/book/510699/17748b"]here is a free copy, from bookZZ[/url] So I'd give him a couple of books from bookzz about C++, because they're free.

C++ Primer by Lippman is really good if you already know a bit about programming. Take a look at the reviews here: [url]https://www.amazon.com/Primer-5th-Stanley-B-Lippman/dp/0321714113[/url]

[QUOTE=Swebonny;50947721]C++ Primer by Lippman is really good if you already know a bit about programming. Take a look at the reviews here: [url]https://www.amazon.com/Primer-5th-Stanley-B-Lippman/dp/0321714113[/url][/QUOTE] Very interesting, altho I see it says 5th edition - isn't there a book that covers it all from begineer to atleast intermediate? I'm guessing it'd be a bigass book.

[QUOTE=Netheous;50947892]Very interesting, altho I see it says 5th edition - isn't there a book that covers it all from begineer to atleast intermediate? I'm guessing it'd be a bigass book.[/QUOTE] 5th edition doesn't mean book #5, it means the 5th revision of that book, so the information in it is updated for new standards like C++14.

[QUOTE=proboardslol;50948001]5th edition doesn't mean book #5, it means the 5th revision of that book, so the information in it is updated for new standards like C++14.[/QUOTE] It's actually C++11, I don't think there is a quality book for C++14. Probably won't happen until C++17

C++ and C# are two entirely different ball games and it seems a bit odd to me that you'd be gifting both of those books at the same time. If your friend wants to learn C++ then they should probably learn C first. Having a strong base understanding of C makes transitioning to C++ incredibly easy and allows you to use C++ more efficiently since you understand how the language works on a much lower level. For learning C I would recommend this book: [url]https://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Modern-Approach-2nd/dp/0393979504/ref=pd_sim_14_28?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KV28H7TWVD51ESP3H5R4[/url] As for actual C++ books, beats me. Don't worry about the C++ versions (11, 14, 17, ect.) the language itself is fundamentally the same, the only difference are added features like lambda's and auto as well as additions to the STL. A book that teaches the basics of programming in C++ and maybe about some of the STL would be good. And for C# books, if you can program in C++ then google will pretty much have everything you'll need to figure out C# since it's C++ with training wheels. But if you're starting off with C# then having a book would definitely be helpful, I don't know of a good one though. I would strongly recommend against giving your friend a C++ and C# book at the same time. A C and C++ book seems more appropriate or just a C# book. What really matters though is what your friend wants to do with programming. C++ is great for high-performance games and other performance intensive programming, but it requires a greater learning investment. C# on the other hand are practically the standard nowadays when it comes to writing most business or general applications. What's great about C# (and Java) is that it abstracts away a lot of the "hard" things in programming such as memory management and pointers which is why it's a lot easier to develop software (it's also a hell of a lot quicker to develop using it.) Just my 2 cents

I want to get him 2 books, not one that talks about both C++ and C# as the languages are fairly different and it wouldf cause general confusion, but I wanted to somewhat have him covered :P Thanks tho.

[QUOTE=Remscar;50949971]C++ and C# are two entirely different ball games and it seems a bit odd to me that you'd be gifting both of those books at the same time. If your friend wants to learn C++ then they should probably learn C first. Having a strong base understanding of C makes transitioning to C++ incredibly easy and allows you to use C++ more efficiently since you understand how the language works on a much lower level. For learning C I would recommend this book: [url]https://www.amazon.com/C-Programming-Modern-Approach-2nd/dp/0393979504/ref=pd_sim_14_28?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KV28H7TWVD51ESP3H5R4[/url] As for actual C++ books, beats me. Don't worry about the C++ versions (11, 14, 17, ect.) the language itself is fundamentally the same, the only difference are added features like lambda's and auto as well as additions to the STL. A book that teaches the basics of programming in C++ and maybe about some of the STL would be good. And for C# books, if you can program in C++ then google will pretty much have everything you'll need to figure out C# since it's C++ with training wheels. But if you're starting off with C# then having a book would definitely be helpful, I don't know of a good one though. I would strongly recommend against giving your friend a C++ and C# book at the same time. A C and C++ book seems more appropriate or just a C# book. What really matters though is what your friend wants to do with programming. C++ is great for high-performance games and other performance intensive programming, but it requires a greater learning investment. C# on the other hand are practically the standard nowadays when it comes to writing most business or general applications. What's great about C# (and Java) is that it abstracts away a lot of the "hard" things in programming such as memory management and pointers which is why it's a lot easier to develop software (it's also a hell of a lot quicker to develop using it.) Just my 2 cents[/QUOTE] I feel that C# books are useless. (coming from someone who uses C# quite a damn bit.. I have the books. Never used them.) the language is SO big, it's better just to refer to the web. They also go out of date real quick (3.0->4.0->4.5)

Having used C# for about 13 years, since the language is so large, I would recommend the following: - Learn C# 2.0 first (forget 1) - Find out what changed in C# 3 - Find out what changed in C# 4 - etc - etc ... on up to 7. That way you will see how the language progressed rather than getting the whole chunk of info in one blast.

[QUOTE=ph:lxyz;50974076]Having used C# for about 13 years, since the language is so large, I would recommend the following: - Learn C# 2.0 first (forget 1) - Find out what changed in C# 3 - Find out what changed in C# 4 - etc - etc ... on up to 7. That way you will see how the language progressed rather than getting the whole chunk of info in one blast.[/QUOTE] I'll pass him that - I think he'll find it quite useful, I've learned C# quite early on so now I have no difficulties whenever something changes so I can relate to that.