Jumping into C++

by Alex Allain

Want to learn to code? Want to learn C++? Struggling to follow your lecturer or books and tutorials written for experts? You're not alone. As a professional C++ developer and former Harvard teaching fellow, I know what you need to know to be a great C++ programmer, and I know how to teach it, one step at a time. I know where people struggle, and why, and how to make it clear. I cover every step of the programming process, including:

Getting the tools you need to program and how to use them

*Basic language feature like variables, loops and functions

*How to go from an idea to code

*A clear, understandable explanation of pointers

*Strings, file IO, arrays, references

*Classes and advanced class design

*C++-specific programming patterns

*Object oriented programming

*Data structures and the standard template library (STL)

Key concepts are reinforced with quizzes and over 75 practice problems.

Genres: Programming, Computer Science, Nonfiction, Science

536 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2013

Reviews

[Anton Antonov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most comprehensive book for C++ or programming starters. The title suggests that it's fast-paced, but the description says it's suited for programming starters too? This is self-contradicting. Jumping into C++ is a fast-paced book with enough information to give you the bare minimum to get you through the chapters, but not enough to give you a good foundation on the given topic. The exercises after each chapter are interesting, but not obvious after the information starved chapters.


You'll spend more time googling for comprehensive answers, than stay at the book pages. If that's your definition of a 5-star C++ starters book, go for it.

Otherwise there are much better books for C++ starters as C++ Primer or Bjarne Stroustrup's C++ books.

[Heather Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful companion for those learning this difficult language

[Medhat · Rating 2 out of 5]

boooring :(

[Akash Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book that got me into programming back in 2015, love it.

[Shashank Manjunath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lets get this straight. Unlike what other reviewers have stated this is not a beginner friendly book for starting C++. If you have prior knowledge of C++ you can use this book as a quick relearning tool or at best refreshing many topics quickly. The writing style of this book is of two styles. On one hand it tries to teach you(The part where it fails) and the other part is where it tries to show common pitfalls and gives a general direction of how to do things(The part where it excels).
If you have done some amount of programming you can use this as a quick refresher book.

[Gjvon Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of the greatest books on an introduction to programming. Learning C++ is hard enough. IF you stick with it, you will be left with a profound knowledge of programming basics.

The book isn't easy. C++ isn't easy. But his approach to teaching the subject is phenomenal.

[Bagus Santoso · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good introduction to C++. It's cover from hello world to pointer, and some STL. I really like this book.

[Stephen Collins]

I think it was a good intro to C++