C++ and STL refresher course

Question

Hi! I know C and C++ quite well. I know in much detail about pointers and well versed with pointer arithmetic and worked on Win32 API and a bit of MFC as well in my university days. In my previous job, I had no chance to look on these matters and worked in some other domain. Now what I want is a crash or refresher course in:

• C++
• STL

I do not want to go through 500+ pages of books because I know C#, Java, Ruby, Python and even x86 Assembly as well. What I want is to cover advanced and dark corners of C++ and intermediate STL.

Can anyone point out good links about it? I know about Google! ;-) But an intelligent human recommendation is something else yet Google has not implemented.

Regards, Mohsin Hijazee

Answer 1

This should answer your question well.

Answer 2

SGI has a pretty nice reference for STL.

Answer 3

Read STL - C++ feeds on stackoverflow =)

comp.lang.c++
comp.lang.c++.moderated news groups

Herb Sutter's "Guru of the week" - http://gotw.ca/gotw/index.htm

Start learn boost (boost.org), it will be good way to refresh c++ and stl.

C++ Coding Standards : 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices (C++ in Depth Series) - small and easy for reading in subway book. It helps you refresh your knowledges.
Other books from "C++ in Depth Series" nice too.

Answer 4

I'm not quite sure what you mean exactly by advanced C++ and intermediate STL.

The C++ FAQ Lite helped me a lot when I first started with C++.

Answer 5

A quick read through of one or more of the 'Effective' books by Meyers and/or the 'Exceptional' books by Sutter would make a nice refresher course. They're short and generally easy reads for someone who's not a novice, but they'll refresh your memory on some of the edge cases you need to know about.

Answer 6

www.cplusplus.com I like this site a lot

Answer 7

For me, the best book on the STL is "Generic Programming and the STL" by Matthew H. Austern. It explains the STL very well from a conceptual point of view, rather then being a reference or tutorial on how to use it.

Answer 8

Some YouTube videos to refresh memory:

STL vector part 1

STL list part 1

Answer 9

I faced the exact same problem about 4 years ago. Moving from a java role back to c++.

The most useful book I found was "Effective STL" - Scott Meyers. This explains how to use the stl properly once your head gets around this your other C++ knowledge will come flooding back.

If you are struggling or still unsure of all the intricess of c++ after this read "Effective C++" and "More Effective C++" by the same author. All the Effective books are short and concise.

Also I always have Stroustrup's book on my desk, And I dip into it as I need to.

Answer 10

As sort of a path to a deeper understanding of the STL you may want to take the time and watch some of the videos at http://www.stepanovpapers.com/. Also "Notes on Programming" http://www.stepanovpapers.com/notes.pdf will also help you understand the "Why" behind the design of the STL.