My first experience with C++ was around highschool, when I got a book to see if I could learn how to program on my own. I either downloaded Dev-C++ or the book came with a CD. I don’t remember. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make much progress as I couldn’t figure out how to stop the console application from exiting immediately. I had some programming experience before with Visual Basic 6.0, but I didn’t have anyone to show me the way for C++. At the time Youtube was fresh and wasn’t as lively as it is now. Internet was dead-slow.. I gave up, picked up a bass guitar and joined a band. That was my first C++ book, it had not helped me much.

It was in freshmen college (2011), where I really had to learn C++ via a required class. It wasn’t through books. I learnt C++ by trial & error. Endless hours in front of the computer. Sweat & tears. It was a gradual process. I wasn’t just learning C++, but I was learning how to program. Everything, from scratch! Classes, labs, assignments & on paper midterm/final… Nowadays it seems like most schools actually teach Java or Python for programming. I was lucky. I got to use C++ throughout college and later at work.

It’s been about 10 years since I have started learning C++. I never got to learn Modern C++, as I never had to use it. I still exclusively use classic C++. That will probably change as more people/companies adopt Modern C++. Until this year (2021), I had never actually read any language-specific guidelines. All my C++ knowledge was based on my practical experience.

Books can be helpful, but I am not sure how much one can gather from them. You can’t learn a human language just from the books. It won’t workout (if you are not some sort of a savant). It doesn’t happen overnight either. Anyhow I want to give it a try - read a few books and maybe pick something along the path. I first read C++ Coding Standards for some reason, but it seems like ‘A Tour of C++’ would have been a better first book.

Here is my reading list:

1. A Tour of C++ (Second Edition)
2. C++ Coding Standards
3. Effective C++ (Third Edition)
4. Effective Modern C++
5. Large Scale C++ : Process & Architecture (Volume I)