Introduction
If you are a novice and ventured into your programming career, then choosing the right programming language to learn to code might confuse you. The mere number of programming languages is just overwhelming. Therefore, it is worth knowing that few of these languages heavily borrow their syntax from C, which makes C Programming language, an apt choice to start with your programming journey. Considered as the go-to language for general-purpose software development, C has cast its influence on many languages like JavaScript, Java, and Python. Making use of familiar C structures enables new languages to improve acceptance.
C++ builds upon C to offer support for classes and objects. C++ is the most primary and strong programming language that every programmer needs to know vividly. C++ is used in the making of games, applications, browsers, etc.
Hence, with the rising popularity and need for professional coders, many people are taking up C++ as their career choice.
Once you have comprehended the language well enough, C++ is efficient and rewarding. Hence, it’s also very critical to opt for the right books to learn more about C++.
C++ Books
You can study C++ from various sources like online courses and institutions but nothing can replace the importance of books as nothing is better than self-study. A book allows you to read the concepts and then learn by practice. Also, books act as references when you’re stuck somewhere. There are a lot of options for C++ books in the market, which is a good thing but can also be confusing. In this article, you will find the list of top ten C++ books for you to start your career and keep up your pace with the others around you. This list includes books that are best suited for beginners and professional developers who want to master C++.
Best C++ book for beginners
1. A Complete Guide to Programming in C++
Author: Ulla Kirch-Prinz
Edition: 1st Edition
Whether you are a beginner or a professional programmer, this C++ book is the right pick for you since it has been documented for serving dual markets. It acts as reading material for undergraduate students as well as benefits professionals, refreshing the lessons. The chapters are sorted out in a manner that manages the peruser from primary language ideas to experienced programming advancement. It also talks about the C++ language components elaborately.
The first few chapters provide a detailed portrayal of the essential qualities of the object-oriented C++ programming language. The next few chapters describe the usage of streams for info and yield, highlighting designing systems. The next part of the book shows operators that are needed for figurings and determinations. It will guide you on how to document your functions and will also exhibit the difference between pointers and arrays.
You will learn about:
- Fundamentals
- Fundamental Types, Constants, and Variables
- Using Functions and Classes
- Input and Output with Streams
- Operators for Fundamental Types
- Control Flow
- Symbolic Constants and Macros
- Converting Arithmetic Types
- The Standard Class string
- Functions
2. Beginning C++ Through Game Programming
Author: Michael Dawson
Edition: 3rd Edition
The purpose of this book is to familiarize you with the C++ language from a game programming viewpoint. Written for the amateur game developer or programmer, the book presumes no previous programming experience and every new skill and concept is taught with the help of simple language and step-by-step instructions.
This C++ book is ideal for someone who likes to program games. To read this book, no past programming experience is required as the book is written for novices, but that does not mean understanding C++ and programming games will be an easy job. You will need to study thoroughly, and research a lot. But there is nothing to be worried about, after finishing this book, you will have a strong understanding of this programming language.
You will learn about
- Types, Variables, and Standard I/O: Lost Fortune
- For Loops, Strings, and Arrays: Word Jumble
- The Standard Template Library: Hangman
- Functions: Mad Lib
- References: Tic-Tac-Toe
- Pointers: Tic-Tac-Toe 2.0
- Classes: Critter Caretaker
- Advanced Classes and Dynamic Memory: Game Lobby
- Inheritance and Polymorphism: Blackjack
3. C++ Primer (5th Edition)
Author: Josée Lajoie and Stanley B. Lippman
Latest Edition: 5th Edition
This authoritative and detailed introduction to C++ will help you understand the language fast and will show you ways to use it in modern, highly effective ways. Emphasizing today’s best practices, the authors demonstrate how to use the core language as well as its standard library to document effective, readable, and strong code.
This book presents the C++ standard library from the outset, highlighting on its common functions and facilities to assist you to compose useful programs without the need to master every language detail. The many examples in the book have been modified to utilize the new language features and show the best way to implement them. This book is an established tutorial for people new to the ideas of C++, a classic discussion of core C++ ideas and techniques, and a useful resource for professional programmers, specifically those keen to see C++11 enhancements illuminated.
You will learn
- How to make use of the new C++11 language features and the standard library to create powerful programs fast, and get acquainted with high-level programming
- Discover more via examples that enlighten the best coding styles and program design techniques of recent times.
- Comprehend the “rationale behind the rules”: why C++11 functions as it does
- Utilize the comprehensive cross-references to assist you to connect related concepts and insights
- Up-to-date learning aids and exercises highlight key points, enable you to evade pitfalls, foster good practices, and strengthen what you’ve learned.
4. Learn To Program With C++
Author: John Smiley
Edition: 1st Edition
Are you anxious about the fact that you have completely zero knowledge in programming, and therefore, you will fall behind the others? Well then, this book is just the right pick for you as it will guide you through the chapters one by one. All you have to do is give your full attention while going through the chapters. There are various instances and codes provided throughout the book, so you will readily learn all topics by reading through the programs and executing them on your computer.
Thus, if you want to know about C++ and master this field, you will have to stay patient and learn about the chapters in the order given maximum benefits. The book has talked about all the simple and complicated topics in a way that has not even allowed the reader to comprehend the gradual change.
You will learn about
- Selection structures
- Loops
- Creating your functions
- Designing objects from instantiable classes
- Managing access to the data in your object
- Inheritance
- Arrays
- Pointers
- Errors and error handling
Intermediate C++ Books
5. The Design and Evolution of C++
Author: Bjarne Stroustrup
Edition: 1st Edition
This is another book from the inventor of C++ himself. This book delivers the classic insider’s guide to the design and evolution of the C++ programming language. Without missing crucial facts or getting bogged down in technicalities, Stroustrup offers his amazing insights into the findings that shaped C++. Every C++ developer will benefit from Stroustrup’s descriptions of the ‘why’s’ behind the language. The Design and Evolution of C++ are documented in an organized, easy-to-read style that is often informative and occasionally entertaining. This book also delivers information and thorough discussions of critical design decisions that will incorporate into the reader’s understanding.
You will learn
- Insights into the purposes, principles, and real-world constraints which shaped C++
- Defines design decisions for individual language features,
- Demonstrates the associations between C++ language features and the design and programming methods supported by C++,
- Talks about the design of the new language features: exceptions, run-time type information, and namespaces.
You understand a lot about C++ programming, though it is not the primary purpose of Stroustrup. In demonstrating why he accepted or rejected suggested features, Stroustrup proposes examples of options that reveal more useful ways to use C++. The Design and Evolution of C++ expand your knowledge of C++ by describing how and why it developed. You will be more tolerant of some of its notions once you comprehend the alternatives. You will adopt new features after you’ve comprehended their motivations. If you compose C++ code, you ought to have this book.
6. C++ Primer Plus (6th Edition)
Author: Stephen Prata
Edition: 6th Edition
This C++ book is written by Stephen Prata and it’s excellent for both amateur programmers, students, and developers who have little experience will find this book useful in its coverage of C++’s programming logic. Its interesting explanations, backed by well-explained examples, deliver programmers with a solid background in the language. The text also sufficiently covers the concept of object-oriented programming. This is quite significant as the topic is often quite confusing for new developers. Farrell describes classes and objects making it possible for even developers to start developing more complicated program structures. Similar to other texts in this list, the book comprehensively describes the notion of templates as used in C++ along with exception handling. Skilled programmers will find its elucidation of random number generation enlightening specifically for scientific simulations.
You will learn about:
- A thorough chapter on the differences and additional capabilities presented in the C++11 standard
- Comprehensive, integrated discussion of basic C language and other C++ features
- Precise advice about when and why to utilize a feature
- Hands-on knowledge with concise and easy instances that expand your knowledge a concept or two at a time
- Several practical sample programs
7. The C++ Programming Language
Author: Bjarne Stroustrup
Edition: 4th Edition
Considered one of the finest books to learn C++ Programming from scratch, this book is good for both beginners and programmers with little knowledge of it. Written by Bjarne Stroustrup this book is ideal to comprehend one of the most popular languages, C++ incorporates object-oriented concepts like polymorphism, data abstractions, encapsulation, and inheritance. Also, it talks about exception handling and function overloading, which was formerly missing in C programming. The creator and developer of the language penned this book to act as documentation for the constantly developing programming language. Consequential editions have been documented to contain modifications in the language. Though it talks about the language’s construct, a few of its contents may seem advanced for rookie programmers.
You will learn about:
- Basic facilities: scope, type, object, storage, computation fundamentals etc
- Modularity, as backed by source files, namespaces, and exception handling
- C++ abstraction, like class hierarchies, classes, and templates in support of a synthesis of classic programming, generic programming, and object-oriented programming.
- Standard Library: utilities, iterators, containers, strings, algorithms, stream I/O, locales, numerics etc
- The C++ basic memory model
Nevertheless, with a good knowledge of the basics, this book is perfect for all levels of developers. Its companion book, David Vandevoorde’s C++ Solutions, delivers learners with step-by-step explanations of the exercises found in Bjarne’s book.
C++ Books For Experienced
8. Effective C++
Author Name: Scott Meyers
Edition: 3rd edition
This book was documented to be the best C++ book for proficient programmers, and it succeeded. The previous editions aimed at developers coming from C, the third edition of this book transforms this and targets developers from languages like Java. It shows around 50+ easy-to-remember rules of thumb and best practices accompanied by their rationale for C++ programmer in a very accessible and enjoyable style. Despite not being the most up-to-date, it is still recommended for C++ programmers to read the book as the advice given is still applicable.
The first two editions of Effective C++ were welcomed by many programmers throughout the world. Scott Meyers’ practical approach to C++ explains the rules of thumb used by professionals. The book is arranged around 55 specific guidelines, all of which describe a way to document better C++. Each guideline is supported by concrete examples. For this third edition, almost half the content is new, as the added chapters on managing resources and utilizing templates. Topics from the second edition have been considerably modified to showcase modern design considerations, like design patterns, exceptions, and multithreading.
You will learn about
- Expert suggestion on the design of effective templates, functions, classes, and inheritance hierarchies.
- Usages of new “TR1” standard library functionality, plus comparisons to existing standard library components.
- Insights into discrepancies between C++ and other languages like Java, C#, C that enable pro from those languages to incorporate “the C++ way” of doing things.
9. C++ Concurrency In Action
Author Name: Anthony Williams
This is a great book for experienced C++ programmers or someone who wants to be a C++ professional programmer. It is similar to what Java Concurrency in Action for Java developers is.
Concurrency is a tricky affair in C++, and that’s the chief area where Java scored well, but C++ concurrency has come a long way. The first edition of this book was outstanding dealing with C++11 concurrency support, like the atomics library, the thread library, the C++ memory locks, mutexes, and model and problems of developing and debugging multithreaded and concurrent applications. The second edition of the book was released last year and is updated to cover all the new modifications from C++ 14 and C++ 17. The book will prepare you with everything a C++ programmer ought to have, to compose a powerful, high-performance, and elegant concurrent C++ application. If you take C++ programming seriously, this book is highly recommended for you.
You’ll learn about
- Managing threads
- Sharing data between thread
- Synchronizing concurrent operations
- Designing lock-based concurrent data structures
10. Effective Modern C++
Author Name: Scott Meyers
The sequel of Effective C++ is another excellent book written by Scott Meyers. It’s one of the most useful books if you are shifting from C++03 to C++11 and C++14. It is highly recommended to read this book together with Effective C++. It narrates in detail the rules of thumb and describes why you should pursue them with perfect rationale. The proven guideline-based, example-driven format of Scott Meyers’ previous books, has been followed in Effective Modern C++ but covers completely new material.
You will learn about
- The pros and cons of braced initialization
- The connections among std::move, std::forward, universal references, and rvalue references
- Strategies for composing precise, accurate, effective lambda expressions
- How std::atomic varies from volatile, how each should be utilized, and how they relate to C++’s concurrency API.
Conclusion
That’s all about the most suitable books to comprehend C and C++ programming for novices, junior programmers, and experts. Books give you a perfect means to know more about C++. Learning any programming language without going through any books is a task next to impossible. Whether starting as a hobbyist developer or a computer science student, any of the books mentioned above would serve as an important addition to your library. Even with the emergence of new programming languages every few years, C and C++ are still highly ranked. They have been demonstrated to be necessary tools and a gateway to comprehending other programming languages.
FAQs
Q. Can I learn C++ from books?
Answer: Yes, books can assist you to pick up just about anything you ought to know, but you should also put in the effort and they’re great for later reference.
Q. Do I need to learn C before C++?
Answer: There is no requirement to know C before learning C++. They are other languages. It is a typical misinterpretation that C++ is in some way dependent on C and not a completely specified language on its own. Owing to the fact that C++ shares a lot of similar syntax and mane similar semantics, does not mean you need to learn C first. Here is a recommended free course on C++ that can be considered to get started.
Q. Is C++ better than Python?
Answer: Overall, Python is regarded better than C++ when it comes to its simplicity and easy syntax. But C++ is better in the realms of performance, speed, vast application areas, etc.
Q. Which is faster C++ or Java?
Answer: Java is the most preferred among developers, but since the code must first be interpreted during run-time, it is quite slower. C++ is compiled to binaries, so it executes instantly and therefore quicker than Java programs.
