C++ is my goal... How to get there?

[JoshNerd557]

Hi again guys! You may have seen other Newbie Java threads I've started in the past and Eranga and others have been a big help. I started off learning Objective C but really thought about it and decided to go to Java after a day or 2 of reading this C book. When I started reading The Java Tutorials that Eranga showed me in a different thread I found straight away that these 2 two languages are simlar in many areas but very different in others.... I want to learn C++ mainly but thought it would be smart to learn something like Java first so it might be easier. So what do you think about that? Dive straight in to C++ or make C++ easier by learning a easier language? Also if anyone knows much about where to learn C++ could you give me an amazon link of a book or a website with tutorials... ANY help is VERY MUCH appreciated!

[ozzyman]

if thats what you really want to learn, i wouldn't say its a waste of time learning java, but it'll certainly slow your ultimate goal down by learning java just to facilitate learning C. is it tough? tough luck, just go for it

[JoshNerd557]

Yeah but could you please lay out what C++ does and what Java does... Thanks alot though :D \

[ozzyman]

You said C++ is your goal... surely you'd have a reason to state that. All i'm saying is, since C++ is your goal, go for it.

[sunde887]

One big difference is that a lot of times java babies you, c++ allows you do a lot of things that can cause Hard to find bugs, in java you would get runtime exceptions.

I suggest you get one beginner java book and a few c++ books. A good java book I recommend is head first java.

Some good c++ books are
accelerated c++
c++ primer(haven't read but just got it, looks good)
Practical c++ programming
C++ without fear
The bjarn stroustrup(creator of c++) intro c++ book(can't remember the exact name)

Knowing both languages won't hurt and it won't be too hard to learn both at the same time.

[JoshNerd557]

Also, learning from the Java Tutorials feels like I'll never be able to write code for java as they teach you a bunch of things about Arrays and intergers and other stuff and then what do you do with that knowledge!? It was the same with the other C book i f you know what I mean? But on the other hand though I really like Java and might finish the basics before I learn C++

PS: And I know C++ is going to be ALOT HARDER!

[sunde887]

To me c++ is not much more difficult, learning to program isn't so much about syntax details. It's more of a mindset. My c++ skills aren't nearly as strong as my java skills but for the most part c++ isn't really harder, it just requires you to be more careful to avoid mistakes.

Learning about integers, arrays and other types are important to understand very strongly. The books i suggested should give you strong c++ knowledge and decent java knowledge. Another good book that isn't java or c++ is how to design programs, it's freely available at htdp.org, it works heavily on recursion and gives you an extremely good concept of programming logic and how to think through challenging problems successfully.

[JoshNerd557]

Thanks I'll check it out! The reason why I mentioned the Arrays and stuff is because I dont see how it comes together.

[sunde887]

You will eventually, they are the building blocks of bigger types. You make a representation of a real life item as a class which contains the smaller types. It will become a lot more clear as you get more into it.

[JoshNerd557]

sunde887... you are a BIG help thankyou so much! I'm sticking with Java for now! :D

[sunde887]

To me, programming seems a lot harder than it actually it. I'm not saying it's easy, but the basics and some of the intermediary topics are fairly easy and mostly require you to get into the right train of thought.

Integers, floats, doubles, etc are great for anything that makes calculations. Arrays are amazing for storing large amounts of data, which is extremely common in programming.