Welcome to the C++ tutorials! The tutorials in this section are aimed primarily at beginning level programmers, including those who have little to no prior programming experience. Intermediate level programmers will probably also find plenty of tips and tricks that may be of use in improving their programming skills.
Each tutorial is broken down into sections, with each section containing a number of related subtopics. There is no suggested amount of time that you should spend with each section; progress through the material at a pace that is comfortable for you. Since the concepts from each section tend to build on those from previous sections, it is a good idea to ensure you generally understand each section before you move on.
The entire series of LearnCpp tutorials is provided free to you. We are hosted on a virtual private server to ensure these tutorials are consistently available any time you need them!
Before we get started, lets hit on a couple of important goals of these tutorials:
1) Cover programming topics as well as C++. Traditional textbooks do a pretty good job of teaching the basics of a given programming language, but they often do not cover relevant programming topics that are incidental to the language. For example, books will omit sections on programming style, common pitfalls, debugging, good/bad programming practices, and testing. Consequently, by the time you finish the book, you understand how to program in a language, but you have a ton of bad habits that will come back to bite you later! One of the goals of these tutorials is to make sure that all of these incidental topics are covered along the way, in the sections where it naturally makes sense to discuss them. When you finish, you will not only know how to program in C++, you will know how NOT to program in C++, which is arguably as important.
2) Provide a lot of examples. Most people learn as much or more from following the examples as they do from reading the text. It is often the case that the text will describe the theory of something, but the examples show how to apply it. This tutorial will endeavor to provide plenty of clear, concise examples to ensure that you are able to apply the concepts you’re learning. We will also avoid the twin evils: the magic hand wave (also known as …), where in the interest of space part of an example is omitted, and the unexplained new concept, where a new concept that is integral to the example is introduced without any mention of what it is or how it works. Both of these tend to lead to “getting stuck”, which makes moving on to the next concept rather difficult.
3) Provide practice programs. Unlike riding a bicycle, programming topics will fade from memory if not practiced. We strongly encourage you to not only read the examples, but compile and run them to see the result. If you are unsure how they work, use the debugger to walk through them line by line (we will cover how to do that in the appendix). Also, you can learn a lot by modifying the examples and recompiling them to see what happens. However, the best way to learn is to write your own program utilizing the concepts that you’ve learned. To encourage you to practice, the end of each section will contain some exercises that you can attempt to answer on your own, along with solutions. You can compare your solution against ours to see what we did differently, or, if you get stuck, how we solved the problem. Then you can go back and refocus on the areas you need more work on.
4) Most importantly: have fun. Programming can be a lot of fun, and if you’re not generally having fun, you’re not in the right mindset to be programming. Tired or unhappy programmers make mistakes, and debugging code tends to take much longer than writing it correctly in the first place! Often you can save yourself some time by going to bed, getting a good night’s sleep, and coming back to a problem in the morning. Tired or unhappy tutorial writers have many of the same issues. :)
Alright, let’s get on with it.
 0.2 — Introduction to programming languages
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I’ll try.
This is awesome i know if my son can understand this than it’s good, some time’s i look over some of this stuff, awesome website and great Tutorials!
Thanks xoxo
hmp
thats exactly what i’m looking for.
i’m a beginner.
Woot!
This Site is great, This is exactly what I am looking for
Best site I’ve found for beginners
Niceee for beginers like me :)
Nice! This site is what i’ve been looking for, for a looooooooong time :)
Sweet, I’ve been doing a bit of programming in Java but from what I’ve been told C++ is the way to go if you want to create games. :)
This site is amazing. I’m a beginner.
Four smiley faces in a row surely means something don’t it? :)
wow, sin palabras, por ahora :)
Let’s see!!…….
Thanks to whoever made this site. You really provide me the information what I was looking for.
yay I wanna pogram:)
Thanks this is a great website I really wanted to learn a programing language free but everything you had pay for but not this
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[...] 2007 Prev/Next Posts « 0.1 — Introduction to these tutorials | Home | 0.3 — Introduction to C/C++ » Sunday, May 27th, 2007 at 10:42 [...]
Yes its Nice i will try to UPKEEP thos what you suggest to not write when im tired
and learn to maximum C++
This is a great tutorial.. I have about 7 years total experience in my field(s) and have been looking for a chance to hone/refine my C++ abilities. I think this tutorial is going to do just that. I am planning on slowly reading through the entire thing.
Page makes an excellent reference, top notch. However, I do find it a little boring as a learning method. ;P I’m up to chapter 8 and I usually have to read everything at least twice for it to sink in (I’ve heard that studies show that only 10% of knowledge is retained by reading) on top of that I find I tend to get a little bored and start skimming only to realize I’ve missed something important. Don’t get me wrong it’s a great guide I just wish the examples were a little more hands on and fun!
thank you so much i need a way to learn :)
I LOVE your site!
This is exactly what I need!
What’s up Alex! It’s Bryan! I’m trying to brush up on C++ so I can learn how to do some work with gaming dev tools. Actually makes the headache go away after all the testing from work. See you at work tomorrow! Unless you’re WFH. WFW FTMFW! ;)
Hey Bryan!
‘Very good website
KEEP IT UP VERY GOOD SITE
This is by far the best tutorial series on C++ I have encountered. I used to have difficulty understanding C/C++. But this site is the best. The material is organized very systematically. I enjoy reading your material. And ya, I understand pointers now. Thanks a bunch.
I hope this works out, so far so good.
Future game designer in the making!
i like this site and i love it. and i hope i will get much knowledge from this website.
does all this come in book form
Nope, no book form yet. You’ll have to come visit the web site for now.
My commendations to you, Alex, for this site, it is truly a great work. I recommended it to my former college, and it is now posted as an internet resource for a course in C++ Structured Programming there :)
Thanks you so much for your rich contribution to developers.
This site gets linked to a lot as a reference for programming classes. To all future developers, enjoy, and hopefully at some point in your development careers you will be able to make your own contributions to the community at large.
I am a beginner who just finished a tutorial in python and this is exactly what I was looking for to try next.
Is it sure that the skill of riding bicycle doesn’t fade by the time? I always asked myself this question since my bicycle is broken and don’t have money to repair it.
I am a begineer and i guess it helps me well.
I learned Basic way back in the mid 1960s. Forty plus years later I learned enough HTML to become a danger. Programming will never be my calling; all I ever really wanted was to be able to look at some lines of code and have a fundamental understanding of what was going on.
I spent good money to take beginning C++ classes at two area Community Colleges and a state university -what a waste of time and money. Since discovering your tutorial site I have done nothing more than spend about an hour each evening reading the sections, one subtopic at a time. The way concepts and ideas are presented I can even understand and learn! All I can say is, “Thank you so much.”
You have inspired me sooo much that I will be downloading an IDE/compiler and attempt to write some meaningful C++ code.
im also a beginner n dont hv basic knowledge of this can u plz tell me that is it worth spendin ma time in this site….it wud be really benificial fr me….can u plz suggest me??
I’m 17 years old in a week. I’ve always thought it’s too late to learn stuff like this. I know, it sounds stupid. But ones for all I want to give it a try so I one day may fulfill my dream of creating a classic 2D RPG from scratch.
This is a wonderful tutorial but one thing, I wish you could add some more extensive exercises to practice everything that is learned in this tutorial.
Excellent Tutorial/Guide im just starting out in C++ and found it very helpfull.
is it available as a PDF by any chance? No internet access on my laptop and would like to keep reading as i travel :D
Hi Alex,
Thank you for the great website.
You wrote
To encourage you to practice, the end of each section will contain some exercises that you can attempt to answer on your own, along with solutions. You can compare your solution against ours to see what we did differently, or, if you get stuck, how we solved the problem. Then you can go back and refocus on the areas you need more work on.
I could not find exercises at the end of each sections.
Where are those exercise?
Thanks.
Long
Hey Alex,
I want to be able to make applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/iPhone/Conceptual/iPhoneOSProgrammingGuide/Introduction/Introduction.html
I keep reading about Objective-C and Cocoa, what are they? Should I learn C++ before I try to develop an app for iphone/ipod? Or should I learn Objective-C?
I’m 16 and know little to nothing about programming. The only experience that I have with code is in my Tech Ed class where we learned very little about HTML and made our own basic websites.
Thanks in advance
Alex
P.S.- I like your name :)
Learn C++!
Ahh…. programing in Cpp, THE most blissful, ecstatic experience in life.
ANNNDDDDD……. WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT FOE C++ I.E SOFTWARE. FOR
I am just beginning to learn C++ language. I have visited other web sites with the aim of getting the necessary tools that will help me to become a good programer in C++ language. Going through your tutorial, I immediately noticed a well prepared tutorial, easy to follow. I am using this medium to express my gratitude for teaching people how to program in C++. I am an engineer specialized in the field of mechanics option conception and design, I have a great flair for the computer and every other thing revolving around it. Thanks once again and keep the good work going.