Bob Richardson wrote:
I'm brand new to C++ programming, but I have decades of experience in
Fortran, Pascal, & Delphi programming. I've just installed the Express
edition of Visual C++ 2005 and want to get started with C++. I'm interested
in Windows desktop apps. Is there a good text book that will help me through
the initial days of this new language and MS's IDE.
C++, Windows desktop programming, and the MS Visual C++ IDE are three
large separate subjects that are the topics of three or more separate
usenet groups. The comp.lang.c++ group deals only with the C++ part,
which does not include any GUI or IDE facilities.
If you want to learn C++ it is probably a good idea to start with pure
C++ programs that don't involve using a GUI or any other
Windows-specific facilities. That means creating what VC++ calls
"console" applications.
A good book for someone who has experience with other programming
languages is Accelerated C++ by Koenig and Moo. You can read about it
here:
http://www.acceleratedcpp.com/. This does not discuss Windows
programming though. Another good one is C++ Primer 4th Edition by Lippman.
For Windows-specific programming, ask on a Windows group.
Whatever book you get, make sure it was written after 1998, which is
when the C++ language standard was completed and the language stopped
being a moving target.
Gregg
