I took a C course in university. We used the Deitel and Deitel How to program C book. From there I picked up The Complete Reference C++ Third Edition by Herb Schildt. Those were really the only two books I used. I eventually picked up K&R''s The C Programming Language, just because it''s the C book of all C books. A little dated, but amazing none the less.

Most importantly, read code and write code. There''s no such thing as a stupid program when it comes to learning. Make a bunch of small programs, then work on more meaty programs. Read other peoples code. Whatever you do, don''t get frustrated and quit.

I learned C first, then C++.

C has a simple elegance and clarity that I think should really be appreciated. I''d start with that.

C++ can''t actually do more than C, but you can write some things more clearly. As C is essentially a subset of C++, most of the things you need to know about programming you can learn more clearly with C.

SAM''s Teach Yourself, doesn''t really work out too well. I read through the first half of the book and had many questions whose answers would not be answered until I took a course in C++. Go with C++, it is more object oriented than C and was created as a result of a need for a better object oriented language. It is very easy to learn, I picked it up really fast as a 9th grader. I''ve found that after you learn the basics, you will begin to catch your own mistakes and even make your programs run faster than before.

As far as a C++ compiler, I recommend Borland''s C++ Compiler 5.0 or CodeWarrior. Borland''s is what I learned from but CodeWarrior allows for graphics and has a higher faster performance level.

No electrons were harmed in the creation of this message.

THINK -- it gives you something to do while the computer is down.

To err is human. To really screw things up you need a computer.

ftp://202.38.75.11/pub/EBooks/C++/

this site is down for some reason.

http://www.geocities.com/asciimail/freebooks.htm

This has all kinds of free books for download on it including two on C++, each about 800 pages in pdf format