10 Best C and C++ Programming Books for Beginners and Experienced Programmers in 2021
Tags: Cpp, Books, Programming, Coding, C Programming

10 Best C and C++ Programming Books for Beginners and Experienced Programmers in 2021

These are the best books to master C and C++ programming languages. It includes books for all kinds of C/C++ developers with varied experience. javinpaul Follow Feb 3 · 11 min read

If you are just starting out with your programming career and confused about which programming language to choose to learn to code then you are not alone. The sheer number of programming languages is simply overwhelming.

It is, therefore, worth knowing that a good number of these languages heavily borrow their syntax from C, which makes starting with your programming journey with C Programming language, an apt choice.

I have started my programming career with C and C++ before learning Java, and it’s been more than 11 years since I am using C++, though not as often as Java, which becomes my primary skill, my C++ knowledge has helped me to work on projects where both C++ and Java is used.

Once considered the go-to language for general-purpose software development in the structured programming era, C has influenced quite a long list of languages to include PHP, JavaScript, Java, and Python.

Using familiar C structures makes it possible for new languages to improve acceptance. C++ builds upon C to now offer support for objects and classes.

Often time, I am rusty with C++ with very less coding, but whenever I have to refresh my knowledge, I have the right books and courses to do so. I have used C++ on both professional and personal projects and mostly use a GCC compiler.

If you ask me which one is tough to learn, C++ or Java? I would say C++? It’s even difficult to master, and you cannot master it unless you are coding C++ daily.

That’s why it’s also very important to choose the right books to learn from C++ from the start, but oftentimes it’s difficult given so many C++ books are available in the market.

In this article, I’ll share a couple of books that I think are good for both beginners and intermediate C++ programmers.



I consider myself in between a beginner and intermediate C++ programmer, as I actually code C++, use libraries from the Boost project, which is like JDK, but offer more algorithms than the Collection framework.



By using Boost and STL, you feel like coding in Java because you don’t need to reimplement common functionalities like sockets, collections, serialization, etc. So, I have also included the C++ book which explains STL and Boost, two essential libraries for any professional C++ developer.



If you are a visual and active learner like me then you can also combine these books with an online course like Beginning C++ Programming — From Beginner to Beyond, which covers everything you need to know about CPP and also provides a more active and visual learning experience. This combination of a book and course works well to learn something new in a quick time.

Top 10 Books to learn C and C++ for Beginners and Experienced Developers in 2021

Without wasting any more of your time, here is a list of the best books to learn C and C++ from a beginner's point of view. Though, I have also included some advanced C++ books for experienced developers and senior students.

This is one of the best C programming books a beginner should read. Taking into account that C has features and operations considered low level, and its different sized variables make it difficult for new programmers to learn.

The approach used by the author gradually increases the complexity of the content after an extensive look at the basics. Using the Code: Blocks IDE, the book walks the reader through basic variable declarations to more advanced topics as working with functions and searching and sorting arrays.

Authors: Greg Perry and Dean Miller



Though the book is great for a beginner programmer, it would be a lot better if flow control was tackled much earlier in the book and some of the C related content such as heap management were left for the end.



Nonetheless, the book is an effective guide to learning C and you can easily make up for those shortcomings by joining a C programming online course like C Programming for Beginners on Udemy. I highly suggest combining this book and course to start your C programming journey.