Ask YC: C++

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=165098

by kashif • 18 years ago

21 79 18 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Folks, I am a Pythonista, and need to learn C++ in a hurry. I have almost negligible familiarity with the language. In a months time I want to be able to hack basic apps in the Symbian C++ environment.

I am looking for suggestions for good books for C, C++, STL and Symbian. Please let me know what you think is the best course of action. Also any advice from your experience is appreciated.

PS: What do you think of C++ as a language?

hcho2• 18 years ago

Symbian C++ is a different beast. It is heavily design pattern oriented, so it is a good idea to ger comfortable with things like active objects,publish and subscribe, client-server, factory, singleton, etc, etc...

Obviously, get the SDK, demo apps and start experimenting with it, as you would do with any other technology.

Do you mind if I ask why you need to hack in Symbian C++?

davidw• 18 years ago

Yeah, I'm curious if you're sure you really need Symbian, or mobile or...? I haven't heard pleasant things about Symbian myself, but have no direct experience.

kashif12• 18 years ago

Thanks for the response. Need to develop a mobile app for a client. PyS60 apps get really heavy because the interpreter needs to be added with the app.

hcho2• 18 years ago

Wouldn't J2ME do it for you? Less of a learning curve...

Zak• 18 years ago

How about embedding Lua and writing most of your app in that? That's what game developers usually do when they get fed up with C++. Lua is much lighter than Python and intended for embedding in C/C++ apps.

mpfefferle2• 18 years ago

This is the book I learned Symbian/C++ on: http://www.amazon.com/Developing-60-Applications-Developers-...

It's a bit out of date and it focuses on Nokia's application framework (Series 60). It should be enough to get you writing basic applications though. If you're going to stick with Symbian, don't worry about C or STL. They don't use them.

I assume you're going to be using the more recent Symbian 9. Unfortunately, I don't have any books to recommend for this version. You'll need to rely on the Nokia/Symbian docs for Symbian 9 specific features like Platform Security.

Since you're new to C++, I'd recommend following Symbian's naming conventions religiously. They were very helpful when I was a C++ noob just starting out.

I haven't worked on Symbian in about a year, but if you have any questions, drop me a line (email's in the profile). I'll see what I can do.

kashif12• 18 years ago

Thank You for the response and the offer.

mpfefferle2• 18 years ago

Also, NewLC.com is a big community around Symbian development. They're a pretty good resource for tutorials and questions.

colgur• 18 years ago

This is great advice. Platform Security is a system unto itself and language-neutral. In fact, Symbian-C++ is quite an old dialect. Series-60 is by far the most prolific Symbian-based platform and well worth understanding even if you are not programming to those APIs.

noodle2• 18 years ago

i hate c++. i think i hate it because i was raised as a computer engineer on c, and the only substantial c++ i've really done is visual with MFC/wxwidgets/activex/opengl, which are all bitches to work with, imo.

as for books, i suggest these two: "the c++ programming language" by stroustrup; and "effective c++" by meyers

st3fan3• 18 years ago

"""the c++ programming language"""

It's a great reference but I would never recommend it to someone to learn C++. It's too big with too many boring details that you will probably never run into.

noodle2• 18 years ago

hm. i used it to learn c++. maybe thats one of the reasons i hate the language :)

scott_s5• 18 years ago

I think it's invaluable for everyone. As your understanding of the language improves, so does your retention of ideas from the book. Stroustrup precisely lays out what he thinks are good C++ practices throughout the book; might as well expose yourself to them now.

st3fan3• 18 years ago

"""PS: What do you think of C++ as a language?"""

I love to write UNIX tools and network servers in C++. But for projects that don't need the raw speed I simply use Python or Java. You will be 10x more productive in those languages.

One more thing: C++ becomes really nice when you add the right libraries to it. The STL is extremely limited but now with Boost 1.35 things get really interesting.

Check out http://www.boost.org if you are serious about C++.

(Won't help much on Symbian I think, but that platform is terrrrrible anyway.)

Erf• 18 years ago

I recommend Herb Sutter's classic Guru of the Week articles: http://www.gotw.ca/gotw/ There's a lot of usually-uselss arcane stuff in there, but also a lot of valuable information.

kashif12• 18 years ago

Thanks

tlrobinson• 18 years ago

Just a little tip: you don't need to explicitly thank everyone who responds to your question. News.YCers aren't very tolerant of comments that don't add anything to the discussion, that's why you're getting downvoted. Your thanks are implied.

yummyfajitas3• 18 years ago

> PS: What do you think of C++ as a language?

I hate C++, although I'm using it right now since python lacks libraries I need (http://www.cgal.org/).

But I hate C++/STL/Boost far less than I hate C++. The STL and Boost make C++ feel almost like statically typed python, (while occasionally driving you mad with pages full of template errors).

An example (g is a graph):

  list<Edge> to_remove;
  BOOST_FOREACH( Vertex v, vertices(g)){
    if (degree(v,g) > 2){ //Try to remove some ambiguity
      BOOST_FOREACH(Edge e, out_edges(v,g)) { 
      ...Do some euclidean geometry...
      if (...Geometric constraint not satisfied...){
         to_remove.push_back(e);
         }
      }
    }
  }

  BOOST_FOREACH(Edge e, to_remove){
    remove_edge(e,g);
  }

This is almost a direct translation of what I'd write in python (if python had graphs as a data structure), except of course that to_remove is a list of edges.

Some people insist on programming C++ like it is c. I.e., they will build an array (hoping it's big enough, sometimes they will even error check if it's not), cast the edges to int's, keep track of how many array members represent edges and how many do not. If you do that, your life will suck.

kashif12• 18 years ago

Thanks.

st3fan3• 18 years ago

"""This is almost a direct translation of what I'd write in python"""

Except that the C++ version can be highly concurrent and 100 times faster :-)

I'm exaggerating a bit here of course, but in many cases C++ can certainly be a better choice. Even though it is MUCH more verbose.

tptacek2• 18 years ago

You are going to have a hard time making a case for a situation where C++ is better than C + Python.

lpgauth• 18 years ago

Learn STL and Boost if you want to enjoy your experience a little. I first learned C++ like an extension of C and it was hell.

wheels• 18 years ago

"C++ Primer", by Stanley Lippman, Addison Wesley

That's probably the best introduction book. It's super-long, but after you've worked with C++ for a while you'll understand why. "The C++ Programming Language" has been mentioned here a couple of times, and it's invaluable to have as a reference later in your C++ career, but is almost impenetrable as a book for learning the language.

RK• 18 years ago

Actually, Lippman's "Essential C++" is probably more what you're looking for. It's designed to get you up and running in a short amount of time (~300 pages vs ~900 pages ).

jsrn• 18 years ago

> I am looking for suggestions for good books for C, C++, STL and Symbian.

Accelerated C++ by Andrew Koenig and Barbara E. Moo is a very good book on C++, IMO. It's concise, it doesn't teach you everything but the 80% you will need most of the time and it introduces the STL right from the beginning.

danielrhodes• 18 years ago

I was just going to recommend that book. Gets you in the door, which if you've done any coding before, is all you will probably need.

wavesplash• 18 years ago

Download a copy of Bruce Eckel's Thinking in C++. He's superb at bringing to light the quirks of each language he writes about.

http://www.mindview.net/Books/DownloadSites

andrewf• 18 years ago

Josuttis' "The C++ Standard Library" is the most heavily thumbed through C++ book at work.

jgrahamc• 18 years ago

C++ is on my list of 'languages I was forced to learn but would not have chosen to'

1. Languages I chose to learn: BASIC, Assembly Language, C, LISP, Perl, Javascript, Ruby

2. Languages I was forced to learn: C++, Modula-2

3. Languages I have actively avoided: Tcl, Java

kashif12• 18 years ago

Language you should have learnt: Python :) (In good spirit)

allenbrunson• 18 years ago

i see a lot of people bashing c++ here, and rightly so, i guess. its evolution was too heavily influenced by backward compatibility and pleasing too many masters, in my opinion. i still like to program with it anyway, because i use my own restricted subset.

if you're in a hurry, maybe you should learn just plain old C, which is a lot simpler, and then sort of quickly rush through classes and other stuff specific to C++.

i'm kind of in the same boat. i'm teaching myself ruby, so i can eventually become an RoR programmer, and join all you hacker news types in the web 2.0 world. before that, i taught myself objective-c, so i could do cocoa programming on the mac. there's some surprising similarities between ruby and obj-c that i wasn't expecting.

tx• 18 years ago

C++ feels like a Japanese sportbike for small projects: your code will run crazy fast and it's easy to kill yourself if you're not good enough at it.

When your project grows beyond a certain size, C++ starts to feel like early soviet ballistic rockets: plenty fast, but a nightmare to maintain while on the ground, take forever to prepare to launch and can explode at any moment while in flight.

I used to love it, up until I bought a Pentium-III 800Mz with 512MB of RAM somewhere around 2001.

mrtron• 18 years ago

Your analogies win my heart.

kashif12• 18 years ago

lol, thanks

tptacek2• 18 years ago

Effective STL Programming by Meyers is probably your best bet for comprehension and fluency.

Stroustrop is surprisingly good as a walkthrough of the language itself.

Modern C++ Design by Alexander Alexendrescu is the best advanced book.

copenja2• 18 years ago

First:

Accelerated C++ by Andrew Koenig and Barbara E. Moo

   -Great book aimed at absolute beginners written
    by top of the line experts.  Koenig worked at 
    AT&T and was a major player in the C++ standards
    committee.

Second:

Effective C++ by Scott Meyers

    -This book is spectacular and will take you from
     beginner to the next level.  It is very well 
     written and an easy read.  More Effective C++
     and Effective STL are also good.

Reference:

The C++ Programming Language Bjarne Stroupstrup

    -This should be your reference book.

If you want some Guru level references I can list a couple more advanced books if your interested...

kashif12• 18 years ago

Ok. This sounds like a plan. Thx

deepsea• 18 years ago

Yup. It's a very good plan. The key is Accelerated C++. Just lock yourself in a room with a computer and a coffee machine and get through that book. It's short, well written, and contains examples throughout that you should be typing in as you progress through the book.

anupamkapoor• 18 years ago

i think "ruminations on c++" by the same authors i.e. andrew koenig and barbara moo is also very good. if you can get your hands on "barton and nackman", its nice too.

imho, the fundamental problem with the language is the principal of maximum-surprise. what you don't know can really hurt you...

ilitirit• 18 years ago

I love C++

There are so many crooks and nannies, pitfalls and gotchas in the language that most people either give up, or they take the time to learn to do things the "right" way. I fall into the latter group.

However, I absolutely despise the C/C++ compile/link model. And I hate STL errors, or any sort of error that arise from the incorrect use of templates. And header files need to die.

I learnt most of the C++ I know from tutorials on the Web.

palish9• 18 years ago

If you would like to do something significant within a months' time, learning C++ by reading a book is the worst possible course of action.

Start by following along with some basic C++ tutorials. Once you're comfy enough, start implementing your own small applications. (Write a program to accept a sentence from the user and print it out. Then write a function that takes two strings and returns true if the two strings are anagrams. Keep thinking up small apps.)

It is my opinion that you must avoid learning STL and Boost if you want to be productive within a month. Both libraries have enough quirks that it takes a significant amount of time and experience to use them correctly. For example, you don't need the std::vector or std::list containers. Simply allocate a sufficiently large array to hold your items, then allocate a larger array when the first one fills up. A std::map container (a dictionary) is also not needed if you're tracking a small number of items. Simply loop through all items until you find the one you're looking for.

Basically, start actually writing code as quickly as possible. If you feel like you're burning too much time trying to understand one tutorial, move on to another one. But make sure at the end of each day that you can look back and say, "I wrote a lot of apps today and I feel like I learned a lot."

Most importantly, don't be afraid to throw your old code away once you have a better understanding of how best to solve the problem. Implementing components as quickly as possible is the key to productivity. Rewriting your old code is the key to not making a mess.

Contact me at palish@gmail.com if you have any questions along the way. I'd be happy to help. I'm a self-taught graphics programmer, so I can relate to how scary C++ can seem at first. Try to implement each application in the simplest possible way.

kashif12• 18 years ago

Hey thanks...

lacker• 18 years ago

I have to disagree with your advice to avoid vector and map.

If you're used to python, you probably have a very list- and dict-centric method of programming, and you are probably not very familiar with explicit memory management. vector and map are pretty simple and correspond closely to the python list and dict classes.

In fact, I would recommend that new c++ programmers used to scripting languages avoid using "new" entirely. With vectors and maps this shouldn't be too hard.

palish9• 18 years ago

It would be both counterproductive and a premature optimization to learn C++ by first learning the STL containers. The only container that the C++ newcomer needs to learn is the dynamically allocated array. The statement "vector and map are pretty simple" just isn't true. STL and Boost have a lot of subtleties:

1) It is important to write STL code in the correct style. STL containers should be typedef'd before they are used and an iterator shouldn't be used directly to access an item (otherwise debugging becomes more difficult and your code becomes harder to read). For example,

  typedef std::list< Puppy > PuppyContainer;

  PuppyContainer puppies;
  for( PuppyContainer::iterator it = puppies.begin(); it != puppies.end(); ++it )
  {
     Puppy* puppy = *it;
     // do something with your puppy
  }

... rather than ...

  std::list< Puppy > PuppyContainer;
  for( std::list< Puppy >::iterator it = puppies.begin(); it != puppies.end(); ++it )
  {
     // do something with *it
  }

2) STL frequently allocates memory. Those allocations are also hidden from you, so it is easy to misunderstand the true cost of frequently using STL containers. Even a simple operation like acquiring an iterator can cause an allocation.

I work at a game company. In their game's code base, the pervasiveness of STL has been attributed to millions of micro-allocations every frame of their game. (A micro-allocation is an allocation of under 128 bytes.) The result is hopelessly fragmented memory, which means that:

- A relatively small 10MB allocation can cause a crash even when there is clearly more than 10MB free memory.

- A lot of code runs slowly because almost none of the code can take advantage of the CPU cache.

3) Using STL can add code complexity and make your code harder to read. Which of these is easier for a newcomer to understand?

  for( size_t i = 0; i < _numPuppies; ++i )
    if( _puppies[ i ].ID() == finding )
    {
      /* do something with that puppy */
      break;
    }

... or ...

  PuppyContainer::iterator it = _puppies.find( finding );
  if( it != _puppies.end() )
  {
    Puppy* puppy = it->second;
    /* do something with that puppy */
  }

The second example isn't intuitively easy to write unless you're already familiar with std::map.

Check out my Radix Sort example. I could have used a couple std::vectors, but the result is equivalent and simple: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/315/programming/exaples/radix_sor...

4) It takes a lot of time to learn every facet of the C++ language. And the more you learn, the more other people can't read what you write because of your advanced knowledge. (Try understanding boost/bind.hpp.)

5) Most importantly, most design problems are architectural and not structural. As long as your code works and is reasonably clean and well-commented, it is good and safe code. It is more important to master a subset of C++ than to have a working knowledge of the entire language.

scott_s5• 18 years ago

I disagree. Avoid native arrays; only use them when absolutely necessary. They are error prone and primitive. The STL data structures and algorithms are powerful, and are the best way to write a small amount of code that accomplishes a lot. What you're suggesting will result in complicated, buggy code to achieve simple tasks.

Getting all of the details of the STL right is tricky and takes time, but using the simplest features is still the fastest way to write good C++ code. Since he already knows Python, it's mostly a matter of mapping the concepts from one language to another.

I can't stress this enough. If you find yourself thinking, "Hmmmm, I need a list of these," use std::list. If you find yourself thinking "Hmmm, I need a structure that maps these values to those values," use std::map.

When learning a new language, I think it's best to start using that language's idioms right away. C++ is no exception.

timr2• 18 years ago

I'm piling on: this is (some of) the worst possible advice for learning C++.

It may take a little bit longer to learn how to use the STL container classes, but the time is well-spent, and you can't make a legitimate claim of "knowing" C++ until you're comfortable with them. They're part of the language!

Bjarne Stroustrup wrote a good paper on learning C++ as its own language. I highly recommend it:

http://www.research.att.com/~bs/new_learning.pdf

palish9• 18 years ago

My advice is the worst possible advice, ever?

The advice was based on being a professional C++ programmer for the last 3 years and a C++ tinkerer for 5 years before that. I thought there was some merit to it. If it was really that horrible, I apologize.

aggieben3• 18 years ago

Actually, I disagree quite strongly with this. Start writing applications using STL and boost immediately (or in your case, the STL plus the Symbian APIs).

   Both libraries have enough quirks that it takes a significant
   amount of time and experience to use them correctly. For
   example, you don't need the std::vector or std::list
   containers. Simply allocate a sufficiently large array to hold
   your items, then allocate a larger array when the first one
   fills up.

This is how we ended up with so much crappy C++ code in the 90s.

sigh. Yes, you do need std::vector and std::list. Those are the very first two data structures you should learn. If you're using int[] instead of std::vector<int>, there'd better be a good reason. Similarly if you're using char * instead of std::string. Learn to use iterators, and learn to use <algorithm>. Don't be afraid of streams, either. I think doing it any other way is just wasting time and making it harder to actually become proficient in C++, rather than just using the C++ compiler to give you C with a tiny bit of syntactic sugar.

IMHO, it's much better to learn the ins and outs of STL as you use it, not by putting off using it until you master it all (what kind of logic is that, anyway?). I.e., it's way better to start off using a std::vector exactly as you would an array and learn it as you go than to put off using std::vector entirely until you understand the default allocator and operator overloading.

palish9• 18 years ago

You can't use an std::vector exactly as you would an array. There are quirks to every STL container, and it is easy to get burned once per quirk. Here is an example:

  // create a list of numbers.
  static const int kNumNumbers = 10;
  int numbers[ kNumNumbers ];
  for( int i = 0; i < kNumNumbers; ++i )
    numbers[ i ] = i;

  // do something useful with those numbers.
  ...

  // zero-out the list.
  memset( numbers, 0, sizeof( int ) * kNumNumbers );

... versus ...

  // create a list of numbers.
  std::vector< int > numbers;
  for( int i = 0; i < 10; ++i )
    numbers.push_back( i );

  // do something useful with those numbers.
  ...

  // zero-out the list.
  memset( &numbers, 0, sizeof( int ) * numbers.size() );

The second example is evil. Can you spot the bug?

My point was, kashif wanted to be productive in C++ within a month. It is not reasonable to expect him to become familiar with all of the STL and Boost quirks within a month. He has a better chance of accomplishing something by using C++ as C plus constructors than by using C++ as a high-level language. The latter requires expertise and a large time investment.

abstractwater• 18 years ago

I also had to learn C++ fast, and "Accelerated C++", by Andrew Koenig and Barbara E. Moo was great. The book assumes you are a programmer, it's not dumbed down and most importantly it's only around 300 pages. In the time contraints I had (a month) I couldn't afford to deal with Lippman's C++ Primer or Stroustrup bible (both reknowned books, but over 900 pages). You don't even need to finish Accelerated C++ to start coding in C++. http://www.acceleratedcpp.com/

For STL, I recommend Josuttis's "The C++ Standard Library". It's a STL reference book, very complete and easy to browse. There are also brief examples on own to use the classes and templates. http://www.josuttis.com/libbook/

jfarmer• 18 years ago

Don't read a book, write code. There are lots of open source projects that use C++, maybe try to get involved.

Or just give yourself challenges. Rewrite some non-trivial code you did in Python to use C++, for example, and ask experienced C++ people to comment.

Also, as others have said, use Boost and STL if you value your sanity.

In practical terms, I'd rather use C+Python or C+Ruby than C++. I template in a high-level language and move the stuff in tight loops or otherwise performance-critical sections into C.

brentr• 18 years ago

I suggest Deitel's C++: How to Program as a good introduction to the language. If you read a chapter a night and do several of the exercises, you could get through the book in under a month.

Personally, I think C++ is a great language. Many people don't think as highly as I do of it, instead preferring some of the more dynamic typing languages, but you have a lot of power at your disposal once you manage to wrap your head around it.

I got started with C++ because I come from a financial background, and most financial apps in the real world are written using C++.

Why do you have to learn the language within a month?

kashif12• 18 years ago

Client in a hurry. This account is important to us. :)

samratjp• 18 years ago

on the flip side, I have a question for kashif, any recommendations for learning Python really really fast?

kashif12• 18 years ago

Hey Samrat,

Here is what I recommend.(order by preference)

1. http://homepage.mac.com/s_lott/books/python.html 2. http://www.diveintopython.org/

danohuiginn• 18 years ago

It might sound like a cop-out, but the official tutorial. It's short, it's clear, and it covers more ground than it seems to.

I'm a big fan of Dive Into Python too, but I'd recommend that for developing good python techniques, rather than getting quickly up to speed.

scott_s5• 18 years ago

Actually, I started out with Dive Into Python, because it was showing me this is how to do it in Python. I can already program in several languages (and paradigms), so I wanted to know what the idiomatic Python way is.

By doing that, I absorbed some of the important languages concepts and capabilities. I find that I learn best by example; show me what a correct solution looks like, and I'll figure out why it's correct, and hopefully generalize that to the whole language.

Once I started doing some Python programming, I jumped to mostly using the online library and language documentation.

Disclaimer: I still haven't used Python extensively, but I feel comfortable when I use it.

babo• 18 years ago

C++ FAQ is like an instant cafe for the language, give it a shot! http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/

thedbradley• 18 years ago

If you're a fluent Pythonista then I say just dive right in. You could spend a month learning syntax and STL stuff, but a good programmer can pick up a language as they go. See something you don't get? Google-it. You'll be banging out code in no time.

Oh, and a Safari account will go a long way to help you quickly find relevant GOOD material (not just script-kiddie posts).

JFred• 18 years ago

I don't think you can become a proficient C++ coder in one month unless you're really, really smart and unusual. Maybe not even then.

Although, it depends on what you mean by "Hack basic apps", doesn't it?

If you're working on existing apps then you'll need to know the same subset of the language that the original programmers knew. If you're going to write apps from scratch you might do very well by starting only with the Symbian programmers documentation, if it's good. Beyond that, just learn C and use C++ as a "Better C".

If you can avoid using classes and templates you can start quicker.

gcv• 18 years ago

Although it hardly counts as introductory material, I really like a book called Expect C Programming, by Peter van der Linden. The author worked on Sun's C compiler, and has a lot of valuable insights into C. Basically, the book consists of a large list of "these are the things about C which will bite you." For example (please don't just Google for the answer): when is an array in C not equivalent to a pointer?

The book contains a chapter on C++; plenty for a C programmer to get started. Unlike sources like the C++ FAQ, I don't believe it makes sense to treat C++ as a language separate from C, and I don't think a C++ programmer without a gut understanding of the semantics of C is a good C++ programmer.

elfred• 18 years ago

I'd also recommend The C++ Standard Library: A Tutorial and Reference http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&... for STL usage.

Ask YC: C++

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