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<meta name="tags" content="C++, resources, literature, documentation">
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<title>Where to Learn C++</title>
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<nav><a href="https://ignore.pl">ignore.pl</a></nav>
<time>23 June 2024</time>
<h1>Where to Learn C++</h1>
</header>
<article>
<p>This post is an attempt to list down resources I find interesting or useful for learning, polishing, debugging,
or exploring C++ programming language. It is unlikely to provide an exhaustive list and I don't necessarily intend to
create one. If you have any suggestions, I'm happy to read them.
<p>An alternative title would be: <i>where to read about C++</i> or <i>my links about C++</i>.
<p>I organized this list into completely arbitrary items with no particular order. It is completely opinionated and each
item has a very short explanatory description, link, instruction, and/or any other reference. I swear there is a reason
for each entry...
<ol>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#literature">Literature</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#standard-references">Standard References</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#proposals">Proposals</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#the-standard">The Standard</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#implementations">Implementations</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#headers">Headers</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#source-code">Source Code</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#boost">Boost</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#conferences">Conferences</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#core-guidelines">Core Guidelines</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#code-style-guidelines">Code Style Guidelines</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#interactive-exploration">Interactive Exploration</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#classes-courses-and-tutorials">Classes, Courses and Tutorials</a>
<li><a class="always-fresh" href="#stack-overflow-and-llms">Stack Overflow and LLMs</a>
</ol>
<h2 id="literature">Literature</h2>
<p>There are three books on C++ that are good enough to be excluded from my usual "ban on books about programming
languages, frameworks and libraries."</p>
<img src="where_to_learn_cxx-1.png" alt="book covers">
<p><span style="font-style: italic; font-size: 75%;">From left to right</span>
<ol>
<li><strong>Effective Modern C++</strong>, Scott Meyers
<li><strong>The C++ Programming Language</strong>, Bjarne Stroustrup
<li><strong>C++ Primer</strong>, Stanley B. Lippman, Josée Lajole, Barbara E. Moo
</ol>
<p>If you are beginning your programming journey, you have better chance of learning something if you use the books as
complementary resource to your class/course. If you are intermediate or higher, these books are good as "back-to-basics"
and to solidify your foundations.
<h2 id="standard-references">Standard References</h2>
<p>These references explain C++ standard so that it can be consumed easier by language and library users. They may or
may not reference implementation-specific details.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.cppreference.com/w/">cppreference.com</a>
<li><a href="https://cplusplus.com/reference/">cplusplus.com</a>
</ul>
<p>You are likely to use them the most compared to any other entry in this list. This is the case for me.
<p>Both of these sites are also designed to act as an index for other resources, including but not limited to, standard
compiler support matrices, tutorials, technical specifications, proposal or experimental references. If you never did, I
encourage you to grab something to drink and explore one of them a bit.
<h2 id="proposals">Proposals</h2>
<p>Proposals are my favourites. They are C++ standard committee papers that propose changes to the language or standard
library. Their goals are to present an idea in understandable way and reason it. Make it look like a good idea. This
part of their nature makes them often better to read than the actual C++ standard. This is especially evident when they
are coming from the outside of usual working group and/or compiler circles.
<p>You can find them at <a href="https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/">C++ Standards Committee
Papers</a> index.
<p>Alternatively, if you are looking for proposal regarding a particular feature, you can:
<ol>
<li>Go to <a href="https://en.cppreference.com/w/">cppreference.com</a>.
<li>Find applicable C++ standard revision, e.g., <a href="https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/17">C++17</a>.
<li>
Find feature in one of the matrices, e.g., <b>Structured Bindings</b> and associated
<a href="https://wg21.link/P0217R3">P0217R3</a>.
<li>
<b>P0217R3</b> describes wording changes but refers to <a href="https://wg21.link/P0144R2">P0144R2</a> as original
proposal.
</ol>
<h2 id="the-standard">The Standard</h2>
<p>Also known as <strong>ISO/IEC 14882</strong>.</p>
<img src="where_to_learn_cxx-2.png" alt="c++ logo">
<p>This is the primary source. Or rather the working draft of the primary source. Standard is intended to define
requirements for compiler and library implementations. It is not necessarily intended as your day-to-day reference
document. Nonetheless, it is useful because it can provide you with an authoritative answer.
<p>You can buy the actual standard revisions at the ISO Store.
<p>Draft is available at <a href="https://eel.is/c++draft/">eel.is/c++draft</a>.
<p>Standard C++ has a homepage at <a href="https://isocpp.org/">isocpp.org</a> with a good amount of useful resources,
i.a., <b>Get Started!</b>, <b>Tour</b>, and <b>Super-FAQ</b>.
<h2 id="implementations">Implementations</h2>
<p>On the other side of the standard specifications are implementations of said requirements: compilers and standard
libraries. It is as awkward to split them into separate list items as it is to have them both here. I rely mostly on
standard specification and/or reference and use these from time to time, when I need to consult implementation-defined
behaviour or details, options, recommendations.
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/">GCC online documentation</a> contains both <b>GCC CPP Manual</b> and
<b>GCC Standard C++ Library Manual</b> for all stable and historical versions
<li><a href="https://clang.llvm.org/docs/index.html">Clang documentation</a>
<li><a href="https://libcxx.llvm.org/">libc++ documentation</a>
<li><a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/">Microsoft C++, C, and Assembler documentation</a>
<li>
<a href="https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/docs/dpcpp-cpp-compiler/developer-guide-reference/2024-2/overview.html">
Intel oneAPI DPC++/C++ Compiler Developer Guide and Reference</a>
</ul>
<h2 id="headers">Headers</h2>
<p>The gist of it is, know your include paths. For example to start with:
<ol>
<li><code>/usr/include/c++/14.1.1</code>
<li><code>/usr/include/c++/14.1.1/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu</code>
<li><code>/usr/include/c++/14.1.1/backward</code>
<li><code>/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/14.1.1/include</code>
<li><code>/usr/local/include</code>
<li><code>/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu/14.1.1/include-fixed</code>
<li><code>/usr/include</code>
</ol>
<p>Of course, depending on your compiler, library provider and targets these will vary. Consult your compiler
documentation.
<p>They may feel hit-or-miss. It gets especially bad when dealing with multi-target back-compatible headers as they
quickly devolve into macro madness. Yet, they are your exact specification of what you are dealing with.
<h2 id="source-code">Source Code</h2>
<p>I like reading what others wrote. I don't really care if it is bad or not, because I can learn from it nonetheless
simply by asking a questions "why?" and "what does this excerpt exactly do?"
<p>Selected pieces of software (alphabetical order):
<ul>
<!-- EnTT --><li><a href="https://github.com/skypjack/entt">EnTT</a>
<!-- fmt --><li><a href="https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt">fmt</a>
<!-- FreeCAD --><li><a href="https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD">FreeCAD</a>
<!-- GoogleTest --><li><a href="https://github.com/google/googletest">GoogleTest</a>
<!-- JSON --><li><a href="https://github.com/nlohmann/json">JSON</a>
<!-- rpclib --><li><a href="https://github.com/rpclib/rpclib">rpclib</a>
<!-- Yes, I sorted it by piping it to sort(1). -->
</ul>
<p>In general, just take a look at whatever software you use. You might even end up contributing to it and that's always
good.
<h2 id="boost">Boost</h2>
<p>I have a love-hate relationship with Boost. Nonetheless, its documentation has a number of good examples and
recommendations. Even if you don't plan using Boost, it may provide you with solution patterns.
<p>Docs version index is located at <a href="https://www.boost.org/doc/">boost.org/doc</a>.
<h2 id="conferences">Conferences</h2>
<p>I'm socially awkward but I do like to listen to knowledgeable people. Even better if I'm interested in the topic they
talk about. <b>Isocpp.org</b> maintains <a href="https://isocpp.org/wiki/faq/conferences-worldwide">a list of worldwide
conferences</a>.
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@CppCon">CppCon YouTube channel</a> is probably the best place to start if you are
looking for talks. They have a large variety of them: deep dives, lightning talks, back to basics, etc.
<h2 id="core-guidelines">Core Guidelines</h2>
<p>A document maintained by Bjarne Stroustrup and Herb Sutter with a whole lot of recommendations. It is available
online at <a href="https://isocpp.github.io/CppCoreGuidelines/CppCoreGuidelines">C++ Core Guidelines</a>.
<p>It's not necessary to read it like a book, but doing a full skim at least once would be beneficial to get an idea
when to refer to the guideline. Choosing a random topic and reading it on a coffee break is also an option. Whatever the
method - read it - it's good.
<h2 id="code-style-guidelines">Code Style Guidelines</h2>
<p>Even if you work alone these can be useful as rules may prevent trivial errors and make the code more maintainable in
the long run.
<p>Examples of coding styles (alphabetical order):
<ul>
<!-- GCC Co... --><li><a href="https://gcc.gnu.org/codingconventions.html">GCC Coding Conventions</a>
<!-- Google... --><li><a href="https://google.github.io/styleguide/cppguide.html">Google C++ Style Guide</a>
<!-- LLVM C... --><li><a href="https://llvm.org/docs/CodingStandards.html">LLVM Coding Standards</a>
</ul>
<h2 id="interactive-exploration">Interactive Exploration</h2>
<p>A good way to build intuition around C++ is to watch the tools do what they are intended to do and inspect the
results. An example of such tool is <a href="https://godbolt.org/">Compiler Explorer</a>.
<p>We can get similar results in local environment. For example, we can make GCC emit assembly output with
<code>-S</code> flag. Another command, <b>c++filt</b>(1) can be used to demangle symbols in the output:
<pre>
$ g++ -O3 -S something.cpp -o - | c++filt
</pre>
<p>Other than assembly output, we can also view preprocessor output with <code>-E</code> flag or <b>cpp</b>(1) command.
In general, building minimal examples to see certain behaviours is a decent debugging method. Of course, full blown
debuggers are also an option for exploration.
<h2 id="classes-courses-and-tutorials">Classes, Courses and Tutorials</h2>
<p>I do not have any specific recommendations here at the moment.
<p>Prefer university-driven courses if available. Next in line are any free online tutorials. Always complement with a
book or technical documentation. Lastly, paid private "schools", online classes and bootcamps. I heard mixed opinions
about them in general, so research your options.
<h2 id="stack-overflow-and-llms">Stack Overflow and LLMs</h2>
<p>This is an equivalent to learning how to disarm explosives on a minefield with no tools whatsoever. Use these if you
don't know how to bite a certain problem, if you look for a very specific recommendation, or if you have forgotten
something trivial. You may find good answers. Always look or ask for answers with references to documentation or find
relevant sources yourself. On Stack Overflow you may even find authoritative answers.
</article>
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