A question about "Accelerated C++" book

[pantera]

Hi,

I'm new to C++ and rather new to programming (only know SAS previously, which is not a programming language???). I'm now learning C++ by myself from the book "Accelerated C++" and I'm reading a lot of useful stuffs on this forum. So far I've been enjoying reading this book and have done many of the exercises. I'm at Chapter 6 now.

My question is, Is this book very suitable for learning programming, or just learning C++? This question sounds odd, I know, because learning C++ is also learning program. But what I'm trying to say is I'm not intending to become a professional programmer, as I'm an econ/finance student. Somebody persuades me to drop C++ in favor of Matlab/R because it seems Matlab/R would be more appropriate for me. However, I do like C++, and somehow I thought to myself that C++ is way harder than Matlab/R, and so if I could overcome the basic C++ hurdle, then I would be able to learn Matlab/R much more easily. Is thinking this way correct? Does this book teach a lot of principles/concepts in C++ that are transferable to other higher level languages like R/Matlab?

Thanks a lot

[z05DSL3A]

pantera,

First of I can't really answer this because I have not read the book in question.

However, I do understand where you are coming from and it is refreshing to see someone, who is starting out, realise that there is a difference in learning a programming language and learning programming. Generally if you do learn the principles and concepts of programming from the book the skills will be transferable to other languages.

Welcome to the forum.