C++ By Example: UnderC Learning Edition

Introduction

Learning Languages from Books

Most people you speak to consider programming languages to be more difficult than human, or natural, languages. In many ways this is true. Programming is the art of preparing precise instructions for machines. These machines are very fast and obedient, but they are incredibly stupid, so everything has to be broken down into steps; nothing can be assumed. Also, most kinds of programming involve doing business or engineering calculations, so most people do not need to program. If setting a VCR feels like programming, somebody has not done his or her job because one of the goals of programming is to eliminate programming. But part of the trouble is that learning to program is often like learning Latin: ...