I'm an experienced software engineer who has worked mostly with Go and Python in recent years. I also spent about two years using C between 2019 and 2020, and I'd now like to start using C++ for some side projects. Most of the courses and books I've found are extremely long or spend a lot of time teaching basic programming concepts. I'm looking for something lightweight that can help me regain the syntax and learn the essentials of modern C++ within a few days, so I can begin building and fill in the gaps as I go. I really liked "A Tour of Go" and would love something with a similar concise, practical approach. Courses, books, or project ideas are all welcome.
3 Answers
LearnCpp is a solid choice, especially since you can skip the introductory material aimed at people who are completely new to programming. The chapters are fairly short and include quizzes, so you can move quickly. “A Tour of C++,” written by the language’s creator, is another concise overview, though it may still be more substantial than what you’re looking for. If you prefer video, The Cherno’s C++ series covers the fundamentals in a practical way, although some parts are older.
You could try building a small rendering engine with OpenGL. It’s a hands-on way to practice C++ while working with lower-level concepts. OpenGL is probably the friendlier starting point; Vulkan tends to be much more complex and can require a huge amount of setup before you even render a triangle.
A small text adventure could be a good way to get moving. Add rooms, inventories, dialogue, quests, and items as you go. It gives you a practical way to review the syntax while gradually exposing you to modern C++ concepts such as ownership and memory management.
I agree about OpenGL, but I’d avoid calling Vulkan a simple project. Even basic Vulkan tutorials involve a lot of boilerplate. With OpenGL, much of the interesting work is really in shaders and graphics math rather than C++ itself, though it’s still a fun way to learn.