More Effective C++

What Hacker News says

1. TeMPOraLJan 2019
   I used to swear by Meyers in my old C++ days; his Effective C++ and More Effective C++ were my favorite software books. But recently, in the course of catching up with modern C++, I got the impression his ideas aren't considered good in the current community anymore. Can anyone comment on that?
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2. frankzingerApr 2015
   Not a definitive list, but these are good:

     The C++ Programming Language, 4th edition
     Bjarne Stroustrup
   
     The C++ Standard Library, 2nd Edition
     Nicolai M. Josuttis
   
     Effective C++, More Effective C++, Effective Modern C++ 
     Scott Meyers
   
     http://en.cppreference.com

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3. dusandusanMay 2014
   "More Effective C++" by Scott Meyers

   While directed at the C++ crowd, I would recommend this book to any programmer, as it explains many interesting concepts and idioms that are not C++ specific.

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4. fredophileFeb 2014
   I write C++ for a living. I don't have time for Internet mentoring but I will suggest a few resources and general ways you can improve your code.

   Are you a C++ novice or a programming novice? If you're a programming novice you should take some time and learn some standard algorithms and data structures. Introduction to Algorihms is fairly standard for university algorithm course. Make sure you understand complexity and big O notation. Understand typical container classes and their trade offs (lists, queues, stacks, deques, various types of trees, etc).

   The best way to improve your code is to write code. Reading good code also helps but when you start out you can't tell good from bad. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you write: Is what I'm doing clear? Will I be able to understand what I did and why I did it if I read this a year from now? What could go wrong? What inputs do I expect and what happens if I get something unexpected? How hard will this be to update? How hard will this be to debug if things go wrong?

   For a novice I'd suggest reading Effective C++ and More Effective C++ by Scott Meyers. Read a point or two a week and really focus on using them in your coding that week. This will help you build up good habits. A lot of good coding is good habits accumulated over time. Herb Sutter is another author with excellent books for beginning to intermediate coders. He's also got a really good blog.

   Once you've read and used techniques from Meyers and Sutter get a copy of Code Complete by Steve McConnel This book is a great resource. Once you've read it all the way through you can read Modern C++ Design by Alexandrescu. Anytime you find yourself thinking you should use a technique from Alexandrescu stop. You've probably gone too far and over thought something. Maybe ten percent of the time this happens you'll be right and template craziness is the right approach. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches the other ninety percent of the time by thinking more about what you're doing.

   I know that some of these books are expensive but you really don't need to get them all at once. You can take a long time reading through each of them and learning to apply their content.

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5. recentdarknessNov 2013
   Well it depends on where you stand.

   For beginners a very good book from my experience is C++ Primer by Stanley B. Lippman, Josée LaJoie, Barbara E. Moo. The 5th edition even goes into the newer topics like the aforementioned lambdas, also variadic templates. A nice thing is that it comes with exercises, which in my particular case was how I learned programming. I found a new feature of the language, or a class new to me and I played with it until I understood how it works.

   Another good book for beginners is Programming -- Principles and Practice Using C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup, from what I read, he wrote this book with the background of teaching programming at the university and wanted to write a good book which uses a good approach which can be used for teaching students programming in C++.

   If you are already further in and not at the beginning of learning C++ there is a list of books I recommend as further readings:

   - Effective C++ by Scott Meyers

   - More Effective C++ by Scott Meyers

   - Effective STL by Scott Meyers

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   - Exceptional C++ by Herb Sutter

   - More Exceptional C++ by Herb Sutter

   - Exceptional C++ Style by Herb Sutter

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   - C++ Templates - The Complete Guide by David Vandevoorde and Nicolai M. Josuttis

   - Modern C++ Design - By Andrei Alexandrescu

   - C++ Coding Standards by Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu

   Last but not least, reading the C++ Standard is the last bit on the topic of C++

   This is the list of books which I recommend anyone who really wants to become great in C++

   HTH :-)

   Edit: I should probably mention The C++ Programming Language (4th Edition) by Bjarne Stroustrup as a must have as well ;)

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6. Bill_DimmDec 2012
   If you're into C++, definitely check out the books by Scott Meyers (Effective C++, More Effective C++, Effective STL). They're not "how to get started" books, they are "how to fix the stuff you are doing wrong" books. He is very insightful and writes very clearly. He also has a sense of humor, so look for little jokes in the index.
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