Programming Book(s)

[Giorgos Keramidas]

On 2006-01-07 15:25, JD Arnold <jdarnold at buddydog.org> wrote:
>Danial Thom wrote:
>>--- Nicolas Blais <nb_root at videotron.ca> wrote:
>>>On January 2, 2006 04:52 pm, Sean wrote:
>>>>Sean wrote:
>>>>> Looking for recommendations on any Unix programming books.  I have
>>>>> been out of things for a while so I would put my skill level back
>>>>> to the beginning.
>>>>
>>>> I forgot to mention that I wish to work withC/C++
>>>
>>> There's a free C++ book which is great:
>>> http://mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html
>>> You can also buy the hardcopy on Amazon.
>>
>> I'd recommend learning C before C++. In order to be an effective unix
>> programmer you must master the C language, as you'll have to examine
>> and modify code in C to do anything substantial.  Virtually all major
>> programs and kernels are 'C' based.
>
> I think, in general, this is wrong.

I think, in general, this is right.

> And I think many "professionals" also feel that learning C++ is the
> way to go.  If you just learning, you might as well start with
> C++. For many good reasons, see Stroustrup's answer himself:
>
> http://public.research.att.com/~bs/learn.html

Which essentially boils down to "learn C++ it's better and easier to
learn".  I very much disagree, but this is another flamewar, I guess.

Danial is right that there are many large programs out there that are
written in C, not C++.  This means that just learning C++ and hoping to
"cope with it" when an 11,000,000-line monster, written in plain C,
comes along is just not going to cut it.

Thus, "learn both" is a good answer, but I understand that this may be
quite impossible some times.