Best C & C++ Books for Programming

I think every software developer read in his entire life a lot of books. Some of them are very good books, others aren' t; some don't even deserve your time. I will share some of my personal opinions about some great publications of C and C++ programming.

One of my first books that I read during the college was "First Steps with Embedded Systems", by Byte Craft Limited, 2002. This book is intended to fill the need for an intermediate level overview of programming microcontrollers using the C programming language. It is aimed specifically at two groups of readers who have different, yet overlapping needs. The first group is familiar with C but require an examination of the general nature of microcontrollers: what they are, how they behave and how best to use the C language to program them. The second group is familiar with microcontrollers but are new to the C programming language and wish to use C for microcontroller development projects.

"First Steps with Embedded Systems" will be useful both as an introduction to microcontroller programming for intermediate level post-secondary programs and as a guide for developers coping with the growth and change of the microcontroller industry.

Second book, very similar with first, is "Programming Microcontrollers in C", 2nd edition, by Ted Van Sickle. The main purpose of this book is to explore the use of C as a programming tool for microcontrollers.

These 2 books were my favorites during the college because are very easy to read and they cover a lot of aspects related to embedded programming. I just want to remind also some great books related to microcontroller programming: "Embedded C", by Michael J. Pont, 2002 and "Programming Embedded Systems in C and C++", by Michael Barr, 1999.

For those who are not really passionate by embedded domain, but are very attached by ANSI C and C++ because they just work day by day with these programming languages or because are using it for fun of for personal evolving there are some other special books that are worth to be mentioned.

I will name here just 2 books because I think are more than enough for C programming initiation.

"Practical C++ Programming", by Steve Oualline, 1995 is devoted to practical C++ programming. It teaches you not only the mechanics of the language, but also style and debugging. The entire life cycle of a program is discussed, including conception, design, writing, debugging, release, documentation, maintenance, and revision.

"Effective C++" and "More Effective C++", by Scott Meyers, 1997: In this book, you'll find advice on what you should do and why, what you should not do and why not. This book shows also how to design and implement C++ software that is more effective: more likely to behave correctly; more robust in the face of exceptions; more efficient; more portable; makes better use of language features; adapts to change more gracefully; works better in a mixed-language environment; is easier to use correctly; is harder to use incorrectly. In short, software that's just better.

In the end, but not the last is "The Complete Reference C++", 4^th edition, by Herbert Schildt, 2008. This one of the most complete books that I have ever seen; very suitable for beginners and advanced programmers in the same time.