I''ve already learned C and C++, but I have an urge to read more advanced documents on either language. Anyone know of any good books or sites?

Here are some good books:

The C++ Programming Language, Third Edition by Bjarne Stroustrup. This is the book to have. Written by the creator of C++, it is based on the latest version of the standard and will resolve most any technical issue you have. This book has a support web page at http://www.awl.com/cseng

Effective C++ and More Effective C++ by Scott Meyers. These books combined contain about 85 tips and techniques to help you write better code. Covers most facets of the language, and Meyers is a well-respected C++ authority.

Exceptional C++ by Herb Sutter. Just picked this up myself and provides almost 50 "puzzles" in programming. Quite deep and technical at times; it shows you how many ways you can mess up (and then fix) your code. This, as I recall, is based on a series of posts ("Guru of the Week") made to the Usenet group comp.lang.c++.moderated

Actually, all of these books are from Addison-Wesley, and will probably be found at the URL given above. (If that one doesn''t work, try http://www.aw.com/cseng .)


You might also try looking for Stroustrup''s web page, but sorry that I don''t know his URL offhand.

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Blue programmer needs food badly. Blue programmer is about to die!

Having picked it up just the other day, I can recommend Design Patterns, by 4 authors whose names escape me But if you''re not pretty good with the whole object orientation thing, it won''t make much sense. Otherwise, it''s a valuable guide to program design, with good examples of use, including some code.

quote: Original post by Kylotan

Having picked it up just the other day, I can recommend Design Patterns, by 4 authors whose names escape me But if you''re not pretty good with the whole object orientation thing, it won''t make much sense. Otherwise, it''s a valuable guide to program design, with good examples of use, including some code.

The authors, affectionately known as the GoF ("Gang of Four"), are Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, and John Vlissides. The full title is Design Patterns, Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software.

Another book to read in that vein is by one from the GoF, John Vlissides, Pattern Hatching, Design Patterns Applied. It goes into examples in the use and understanding of patterns and talks about some of the misconceptions about patterns.



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Blue programmer needs food badly. Blue programmer is about to die!

Ok, all of the books mentioned so far are good, in fact I own them all, but here''s my take on it.

The stroustroup book (The C++ Language, 3rd ed.) is good for nitty gritty details, but it''s too dense for an every day reference. Try this one, it''s great:

"C++: The Complete Reference, 3rd ed." by Herebert Shildt. Published by Osborne.

Both Scott Myers books are very good if you are not already a C++ master (good for intermediate programmers).

The GOF book "Design Patterns" is an absolute MUST have for every object oriented programmer in existence. It is the single most important computer science book ever written IMO . It cannot easily be read cover to cover, but the first (of five) section of the book will really help you understand where the book is comming from, and the last 3 sections (3,4,5) are simply a detailed reference of the patterns described. This book is ideal both to learn from, and then to keep forever as a reference, a rare thing indeed.

For C++, you will also need a library reference, since neither the stroustroup or the schildt book cover the library in great detail. I STRONGLY recommend:

"The C++ Standard Library". but I can''t remeber who wrote it, or who publishes it. It is recent (1998-2000). and can be found at amazon.com.

For C programmers, or just a great book on programming in general, and structured programming in general. Get "Code Complete", published by MS Press.

Once you have 4 or more of these essential books, you should be well on your way to possessing a truely useful programmers library. I find that although own over 25 programming books, I use about 5 of them regularly, about 6 or 7 more occationally, and the other dozen not at all.

another good book is "algorithms in C++" 3rd edition by Robert Sedgewick. good in depth source data structures, sorting and searching methods.

The book ''Large Scale C++ Software Design'' by John Lakos is really good too.

It talks about a bunch of stuff that is almost always glossed over in other books: how to layout modules (.c and .h) files when designing large systems.