Are my old books useful?

Please support our C++ advertiser: Intel Parallel Studio Home
Reply

Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 118
Reputation: chococrack is on a distinguished road 
Solved Threads: 14
chococrack's Avatar
chococrack chococrack is offline Offline
Junior Poster

Are my old books useful?

 
0
  #1
Oct 30th, 2008
I read a post earlier about C++ books and whatnot.

I have a few books from my yesteryears (10-13 years ago) on C++ mostly. How useful would these books be in terms of the language as it has progressed in the last 10 or so years. Are they even worth digging up or not.

Looking for an opinion, thanks.
Last edited by chococrack; Oct 30th, 2008 at 4:19 am.
I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message  
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 15,453
Reputation: Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute Ancient Dragon has a reputation beyond repute 
Solved Threads: 1475
Team Colleague
Featured Poster
Ancient Dragon's Avatar
Ancient Dragon Ancient Dragon is online now Online
Still Learning

Re: Are my old books useful?

 
0
  #2
Oct 30th, 2008
Ask Narue -- she told me awhile back that she collects old computer books.
Don't PM me with questions -- you might get a nasty PM in response. If you have a question then post it in one of the forums.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message  
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,222
Reputation: jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all 
Solved Threads: 538
Moderator
Featured Poster
jbennet's Avatar
jbennet jbennet is offline Offline
Moderator

Re: Are my old books useful?

 
0
  #3
Oct 30th, 2008
They can still be correct if they are for standard C++ (ANSI) which was finalised in about 1998. The syntax in older books is probably now depreceated.
If i am helpful, please give me reputation points.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message  
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,972
Reputation: ddanbe has much to be proud of ddanbe has much to be proud of ddanbe has much to be proud of ddanbe has much to be proud of ddanbe has much to be proud of ddanbe has much to be proud of ddanbe has much to be proud of ddanbe has much to be proud of ddanbe has much to be proud of 
Solved Threads: 286
ddanbe's Avatar
ddanbe ddanbe is offline Offline
Posting Virtuoso

Re: Are my old books useful?

 
0
  #4
Oct 30th, 2008
I have "THE C++ PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE" second edition by Bjarne Stroustrup.(1991) among others. The preface begins with a lovely quote :

"The road goes ever on and on" - Bilbo Baggins

I will never sell this book!
Today is a gift, that's why it is called "The Present".
Make love, no war. Cave ab homine unius libri.
Danny
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message  
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 7,740
Reputation: Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute Narue has a reputation beyond repute 
Solved Threads: 739
Team Colleague
Narue's Avatar
Narue Narue is offline Offline
Code Goddess

Re: Are my old books useful?

 
1
  #5
Oct 30th, 2008
>How useful would these books be in terms of the
>language as it has progressed in the last 10 or so years.
Naturally they won't be useful if you need information on changes made since those books were written, but old books are still a wealth of knowledge. Just read them with the caveat that there may have been improvements over the years in terms of best practice as well as language evolution. The sample code often doesn't compile without tweaks when you get into the really old books, and especially with books that focus on object oriented programming, what was a good design ten years ago could very likely be bit bucket fodder today.

>Are they even worth digging up or not.
My collection is probably coming close to 500, the majority of them can be considered "old", and I consult many of them on a regular basis. They're worth looking at, if only to determine whether you want to sell them or not.
I'm here to prove you wrong.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message  
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 118
Reputation: chococrack is on a distinguished road 
Solved Threads: 14
chococrack's Avatar
chococrack chococrack is offline Offline
Junior Poster

Re: Are my old books useful?

 
0
  #6
Oct 30th, 2008
Well here's the deal. I got really interested in programming around 12 years old or so. I was unable to teach myself, but I still had a bunch of books. I get older, join the military, serve 6 years, and here I am finally 26 and just learning it for real.

I have just a few old books which I previously thought would be worthless due to changes that have made it so. But on the other hand, I kind of feel like a lot is being left out by the way that they are presenting the language now. So I went ahead and started poking around at the boxes in my attic and pulled out the following:

C++ In Plain English - Brian Overland 1996
Rescued By C++ Second Edition - Kris Jamsa 1996
Teach Yourself Visual C++ 4 in 21 Days 1996
Visual C++ Tutorials, Development System for Windows 95 and Windows NT 1995

Pretty neat thing was the multicolored markers I used to write my name in a couple of them ;D
I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message  
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,222
Reputation: jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all 
Solved Threads: 538
Moderator
Featured Poster
jbennet's Avatar
jbennet jbennet is offline Offline
Moderator

Re: Are my old books useful?

 
0
  #7
Oct 30th, 2008
Visual c++ 4.0 is probably useless now
If i am helpful, please give me reputation points.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message  
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 118
Reputation: chococrack is on a distinguished road 
Solved Threads: 14
chococrack's Avatar
chococrack chococrack is offline Offline
Junior Poster

Re: Are my old books useful?

 
1
  #8
Oct 30th, 2008
That is fairly obvious.
I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message  
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 16,222
Reputation: jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all jbennet is a name known to all 
Solved Threads: 538
Moderator
Featured Poster
jbennet's Avatar
jbennet jbennet is offline Offline
Moderator

Re: Are my old books useful?

 
0
  #9
Oct 31st, 2008
MSVC++ 6 is still common though.
Last edited by jbennet; Oct 31st, 2008 at 7:40 am.
If i am helpful, please give me reputation points.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message  
Reply

This thread is more than three months old.
Perhaps start a new thread instead?
Message:



Similar Threads
Other Threads in the C++ Forum
Thread Tools Search this Thread



About Us | Contact Us | Advertise | DaniWeb | Acceptable Use Policy | RSS Feed

©2003 - 2009 DaniWeb® LLC