Herbert Schildt

[Naureg]

I was derping around on the internet and wandered into the subject of ol' Herb and his terribly written books, I came into more and more articles explaining how you shouldn't buy his books and that they're riddled with errors. Now I'm worried because Herb's "C++ a beginner's guide" is over in the corner staring at me. It's the only C++ book I've ever read.

Luckily (perhaps) I never finished the book, I was still yet to read about more advanced topics like polymorphism and inheritance.

Now that I'm infected with Herb's errors and bad habits, how should I go about recovering?

[firedraco]

It depends...I'd have to see some of your code to tell how bad it is.

[Naureg]

I've never really done anything worth examining, the biggest thing I've done is a tic tac toe program (when I was bored out of my mind) which is nowhere near the level of understanding I have now. Plus it has some minor bugs in it anyway.

[MrHutch]

He does have a fantastic moustache, though, from what I remember.

So, you know, every cloud.

[Naureg]

Well should I finish the book? Or buy a totally new beginner's C++ book and start from scratch?

Is it viable to move on to an intermediate book (such as 'Effective C++') if I were to finish Herb's book?

[Script Coder]

Well, this depends on who told you is riddled with errors, if the person is respected then burn the book (only a joke, please don't :) ) and get another one, else find a more respected opinion.

[Duthomhas]

No, seriously, burn the book. Schildt's books are crap.
http://www.seebs.net/c/c_tcn4e.html
In case you can't figure out who the author of that site is, it is Peter Seebach.
http://www.seebs.net/res-w.html

[Naureg]

Would a good alternative be 'Accelerated C++'?

[Duthomhas]

I have not read it myself, but
http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/beginner/63632/

Also
http://www.cplusplus.com/articles/GLzyhbRD/
and the old discussion thread about it
http://www.cplusplus.com/forum/lounge/19475/

Avoid things like the 21 days stuff and anything by Malik.

[BHX]

They are a little dated but people still recommend Thinking in C++ Volume 1 and 2 (free ebook forms). Though they are from the outlook of classes (ie class Data{};). Avoid any book that says "for DUMMIES" or "Teach Yourself <language> in <xxx> days". As for Malik, I have one D.S. Malik book and the only complaint I have is he seems to ramble about pointless information (have his "C++ Programming From Problem Analysis to Program Design" and when I hit templates I broke down and bought Bjarne's "The C++ Programming Language Special Edition" used).

To be honest, I have most the books they say not to get solely to get project ideas from. The only book I use for reference is Bjarne's book. People learn at different paces, but I have got to the point to where I tell people to learn the basics by following the tutorials on Cplusplus.com and familiarize themselves with C++ then get Bjarne's book or an advanced book to continue learning from.

[Kieth89]

I'm currently reading accelerated C++ (after finishing a C++ primer) and it is pretty good. However, the author more often gives code snippets over whole code examples, which is fine but can be annoying. The exercises have no solutions, but eh.

The code explanations and teaching of material I found (and other readers as well) to be good though. Especially considering how much information is fit into 300 pages. Plus, chapters are short, so it's easier to keep focused when studying it (I found the primer got tiring in longer chapters).