The PyGuy journey towards C++

Python. I would say it is super awesome. It ticks for all the right check boxes.

• Ease
• Simplicity
• Community
• Documentation
• Speed - Meh!!(Compared to Python)

Now don’t get me wrong. I 💝 Python. I literally made my first programming job gig with Python. It was like a dream programming language come true. Name any data structure, and it is already available there for you (which suits in most of the cases).

And add to that there are custom data structures which are available on top of them. Now, life is easy. I need something, I google it or go through the documentation of Python, I will land on a solution pretty much which suits my use case. And to top all that, the package repository is awesome. Great stuff.

What is the motivation to learn C++?

Ya, I know I have been bragging on Python. But as I progressed in my career, getting into solving complex problems, performance is becoming a bottle neck. Almost all the heavy lifting is done by Python STL and libraries. And I take care of only implementing the solution and not touch about how it fundamentally interacts with the machine.

And I started programming journey with C++, but couldn’t really take it forward due to the steep learning curve.

Why C++?

I needed some real challenge to learn and implement concepts on my own rather than using the API implementation provided by Python. So I chose to go for a language which provides me:

• Bare minimum functionality (Compared to Python)
• Understanding of memory management
• Understanding low level implementation of OOPS concepts and data structures

Learning Resources

I skimmed through a lot of learning resources in the internet, but honestly there were no courses or bootcamps which have a comprehensive syllabus which covers good part of the C++. I have decided to go with the book written by C++ creator Bjarne Stroustrup, as my primary material

• Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ 2nd Edition.

  • This is the only book I found which is updated to C++ 14 standard

• C++ Primer 5th Edition

  • I have seen many Reddit recommendations for this book to learn C++. It is updated to C++ 11 standard

I hope I this journey would be a fruitful one.🙂

Please leave your comments below on your C++ learning path