This question attempts to collect a community-maintained list of quality books on the c programming language, targeted at various skill levels.
C is a complex programming language that is difficult to pick up on-the-go by reading online tutorials. A comprehensive book is often the best way to learn the language, and finding a good book is the first step. It is important to avoid badly-written books, and even more importantly, books that contain serious technical errors.
Please suggest edits to the accepted answer to add quality books, with an approximate skill level and a short blurb/description about each book. (Note that the question is locked, so no new answers will be accepted. A single answer is being maintained with the list)
Feel free to debate book choices, quality, headings, summaries, skill levels, and anything else you see that is wrong. Books that are deemed satisfactory by the C community here will stick around on the list; the rest will be regularly removed.
For books that have reviews by the Association of C and C++ Users (ACCU), a link to those reviews should be added along with the book.
See also:
This question was discussed on Meta as part of the Deleted Questions Audit 2018.
The consensus was to keep it undeleted and actively maintained.
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C++ Primer * (Stanley Lippman, Josée Lajoie, and Barbara E. Moo) (updated for C++11) Coming at 1k pages, this is a very thorough introduction into C++ that covers just about everything in the language in a very accessible format and in great detail. The fifth edition (released August 16, 2012) covers C++11. [Review]
* Not to be confused with C++ Primer Plus (Stephen Prata), with a significantly less favorable review.
Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ (Bjarne Stroustrup, 2nd Edition - May 25, 2014) (updated for C++11/C++14) An introduction to programming using C++ by the creator of the language. A good read, that assumes no previous programming experience, but is not only for beginners.
A Tour of C++ (Bjarne Stroustrup) (2nd edition for C++17) The “tour” is a quick (about 180 pages and 14 chapters) tutorial overview of all of standard C++ (language and standard library, and using C++11) at a moderately high level for people who already know C++ or at least are experienced programmers. This book is an extended version of the material that constitutes Chapters 2-5 of The C++ Programming Language, 4th edition.
Accelerated C++ (Andrew Koenig and Barbara Moo, 1st Edition - August 24, 2000) This basically covers the same ground as the C++ Primer, but does so on a fourth of its space. This is largely because it does not attempt to be an introduction to programming, but an introduction to C++ for people who've previously programmed in some other language. It has a steeper learning curve, but, for those who can cope with this, it is a very compact introduction to the language. (Historically, it broke new ground by being the first beginner's book to use a modern approach to teaching the language.) Despite this, the C++ it teaches is purely C++98. [Review]
Effective C++ (Scott Meyers, 3rd Edition - May 22, 2005) This was written with the aim of being the best second book C++ programmers should read, and it succeeded. Earlier editions were aimed at programmers coming from C, the third edition changes this and targets programmers coming from languages like Java. It presents ~50 easy-to-remember rules of thumb along with their rationale in a very accessible (and enjoyable) style. For C++11 and C++14 the examples and a few issues are outdated and Effective Modern C++ should be preferred. [Review]
Effective Modern C++ (Scott Meyers) This is basically the new version of Effective C++, aimed at C++ programmers making the transition from C++03 to C++11 and C++14.
Effective STL (Scott Meyers) This aims to do the same to the part of the standard library coming from the STL what Effective C++ did to the language as a whole: It presents rules of thumb along with their rationale. [Review]
More Effective C++ (Scott Meyers) Even more rules of thumb than Effective C++. Not as important as the ones in the first book, but still good to know.
Exceptional C++ (Herb Sutter) Presented as a set of puzzles, this has one of the best and thorough discussions of the proper resource management and exception safety in C++ through Resource Acquisition is Initialization (RAII) in addition to in-depth coverage of a variety of other topics including the pimpl idiom, name lookup, good class design, and the C++ memory model. [Review]
More Exceptional C++ (Herb Sutter) Covers additional exception safety topics not covered in Exceptional C++, in addition to discussion of effective object-oriented programming in C++ and correct use of the STL. [Review]
Exceptional C++ Style (Herb Sutter) Discusses generic programming, optimization, and resource management; this book also has an excellent exposition of how to write modular code in C++ by using non-member functions and the single responsibility principle. [Review]
C++ Coding Standards (Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu) “Coding standards” here doesn't mean “how many spaces should I indent my code?” This book contains 101 best practices, idioms, and common pitfalls that can help you to write correct, understandable, and efficient C++ code. [Review]
C++ Templates: The Complete Guide (David Vandevoorde and Nicolai M. Josuttis) This is the book about templates as they existed before C++11. It covers everything from the very basics to some of the most advanced template metaprogramming and explains every detail of how templates work (both conceptually and at how they are implemented) and discusses many common pitfalls. Has excellent summaries of the One Definition Rule (ODR) and overload resolution in the appendices. A second edition covering C++11, C++14 and C++17 has been already published. [Review]
C++ 17 - The Complete Guide (Nicolai M. Josuttis) This book describes all the new features introduced in the C++17 Standard covering everything from the simple ones like 'Inline Variables', 'constexpr if' all the way up to 'Polymorphic Memory Resources' and 'New and Delete with overaligned Data'. [Review]
C++ in Action (Bartosz Milewski). This book explains C++ and its features by building an application from ground up. [Review]
Functional Programming in C++ (Ivan Cukic). This book introduces functional programming techniques to modern C++ (C++11 and later). A very nice read for those who want to apply functional programming paradigms to C++.
Professional C++ (Marc Gregoire, 5th Edition - Feb 2021) Provides a comprehensive and detailed tour of the C++ language implementation replete with professional tips and concise but informative in-text examples, emphasizing C++20 features. Uses C++20 features, such as modules and std::format throughout all examples.
Modern C++ Design (Andrei Alexandrescu) A groundbreaking book on advanced generic programming techniques. Introduces policy-based design, type lists, and fundamental generic programming idioms then explains how many useful design patterns (including small object allocators, functors, factories, visitors, and multi-methods) can be implemented efficiently, modularly, and cleanly using generic programming. [Review]
C++ Template Metaprogramming (David Abrahams and Aleksey Gurtovoy)
C++ Concurrency In Action (Anthony Williams) A book covering C++11 concurrency support including the thread library, the atomics library, the C++ memory model, locks and mutexes, as well as issues of designing and debugging multithreaded applications. A second edition covering C++14 and C++17 has been already published. [Review]
Advanced C++ Metaprogramming (Davide Di Gennaro) A pre-C++11 manual of TMP techniques, focused more on practice than theory. There are a ton of snippets in this book, some of which are made obsolete by type traits, but the techniques, are nonetheless useful to know. If you can put up with the quirky formatting/editing, it is easier to read than Alexandrescu, and arguably, more rewarding. For more experienced developers, there is a good chance that you may pick up something about a dark corner of C++ (a quirk) that usually only comes about through extensive experience.
The C++ Programming Language (Bjarne Stroustrup) (updated for C++11) The classic introduction to C++ by its creator. Written to parallel the classic K&R, this indeed reads very much like it and covers just about everything from the core language to the standard library, to programming paradigms to the language's philosophy. [Review] Note: All releases of the C++ standard are tracked in the question "Where do I find the current C or C++ standard documents?".
C++ Standard Library Tutorial and Reference (Nicolai Josuttis) (updated for C++11) The introduction and reference for the C++ Standard Library. The second edition (released on April 9, 2012) covers C++11. [Review]
The C++ IO Streams and Locales (Angelika Langer and Klaus Kreft) There's very little to say about this book except that, if you want to know anything about streams and locales, then this is the one place to find definitive answers. [Review]
C++11/14/17/… References:
The C++11/14/17 Standard (INCITS/ISO/IEC 14882:2011/2014/2017) This, of course, is the final arbiter of all that is or isn't C++. Be aware, however, that it is intended purely as a reference for experienced users willing to devote considerable time and effort to its understanding. The C++17 standard is released in electronic form for 198 Swiss Francs.
The C++17 standard is available, but seemingly not in an economical form – directly from the ISO it costs 198 Swiss Francs (about $200 US). For most people, the final draft before standardization is more than adequate (and free). Many will prefer an even newer draft, documenting new features that are likely to be included in C++20.
Overview of the New C++ (C++11/14) (PDF only) (Scott Meyers) (updated for C++14) These are the presentation materials (slides and some lecture notes) of a three-day training course offered by Scott Meyers, who's a highly respected author on C++. Even though the list of items is short, the quality is high.
The C++ Core Guidelines (C++11/14/17/…) (edited by Bjarne Stroustrup and Herb Sutter) is an evolving online document consisting of a set of guidelines for using modern C++ well. The guidelines are focused on relatively higher-level issues, such as interfaces, resource management, memory management and concurrency affecting application architecture and library design. The project was announced at CppCon'15 by Bjarne Stroustrup and others and welcomes contributions from the community. Most guidelines are supplemented with a rationale and examples as well as discussions of possible tool support. Many rules are designed specifically to be automatically checkable by static analysis tools.
The C++ Super-FAQ (Marshall Cline, Bjarne Stroustrup and others) is an effort by the Standard C++ Foundation to unify the C++ FAQs previously maintained individually by Marshall Cline and Bjarne Stroustrup and also incorporating new contributions. The items mostly address issues at an intermediate level and are often written with a humorous tone. Not all items might be fully up to date with the latest edition of the C++ standard yet.
cppreference.com (C++03/11/14/17/…) (initiated by Nate Kohl) is a wiki that summarizes the basic core-language features and has extensive documentation of the C++ standard library. The documentation is very precise but is easier to read than the official standard document and provides better navigation due to its wiki nature. The project documents all versions of the C++ standard and the site allows filtering the display for a specific version. The project was presented by Nate Kohl at CppCon'14.
Note: Some information contained within these books may not be up-to-date or no longer considered best practice.
The Design and Evolution of C++ (Bjarne Stroustrup) If you want to know why the language is the way it is, this book is where you find answers. This covers everything before the standardization of C++.
Ruminations on C++ - (Andrew Koenig and Barbara Moo) [Review]
Advanced C++ Programming Styles and Idioms (James Coplien) A predecessor of the pattern movement, it describes many C++-specific “idioms”. It's certainly a very good book and might still be worth a read if you can spare the time, but quite old and not up-to-date with current C++.
Large Scale C++ Software Design (John Lakos) Lakos explains techniques to manage very big C++ software projects. Certainly, a good read, if it only was up to date. It was written long before C++ 98 and misses on many features (e.g. namespaces) important for large-scale projects. If you need to work in a big C++ software project, you might want to read it, although you need to take more than a grain of salt with it. The first volume of a new edition is released in 2019.
Inside the C++ Object Model (Stanley Lippman) If you want to know how virtual member functions are commonly implemented and how base objects are commonly laid out in memory in a multi-inheritance scenario, and how all this affects performance, this is where you will find thorough discussions of such topics.
The Annotated C++ Reference Manual (Bjarne Stroustrup, Margaret A. Ellis) This book is quite outdated in the fact that it explores the 1989 C++ 2.0 version - Templates, exceptions, namespaces and new casts were not yet introduced. Saying that however, this book goes through the entire C++ standard of the time explaining the rationale, the possible implementations, and features of the language. This is not a book to learn programming principles and patterns on C++, but to understand every aspect of the C++ language.
Thinking in C++ (Bruce Eckel, 2nd Edition, 2000). Two volumes; is a tutorial style free set of intro level books. Downloads: vol 1, vol 2. Unfortunately they're marred by a number of trivial errors (e.g. maintaining that temporaries are automatically const), with no official errata list. A partial 3rd party errata list is available at http://www.computersciencelab.com/Eckel.htm, but it is apparently not maintained.
Scientific and Engineering C++: An Introduction to Advanced Techniques and Examples (John Barton and Lee Nackman) It is a comprehensive and very detailed book that tried to explain and make use of all the features available in C++, in the context of numerical methods. It introduced at the time several new techniques, such as the Curiously Recurring Template Pattern (CRTP, also called Barton-Nackman trick). It pioneered several techniques such as dimensional analysis and automatic differentiation. It came with a lot of compilable and useful code, ranging from an expression parser to a Lapack wrapper. The code is still available online. Unfortunately, the books have become somewhat outdated in the style and C++ features, however, it was an incredible tour-de-force at the time (1994, pre-STL). The chapters on dynamics inheritance are a bit complicated to understand and not very useful. An updated version of this classic book that includes move semantics and the lessons learned from the STL would be very nice.
Warning!
This is a list of random books of diverse quality. In the view of some people (with some justification), it is no longer a list of recommended books. Some of the listed books contain blatantly incorrect statements or teach wrong/harmful practices. People who are aware of such books can edit this answer to help improve it. See The C book list has gone haywire. What to do with it?, and also Deleted question audit 2018.
The C Programming Language (2nd Edition) - Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie (1988). Still a good, short but complete introduction to C (C90, not C99 or later versions), written by the inventor of C. However, the language has changed and good C style has developed in the last 25 years, and there are parts of the book that show its age.
C: A Reference Manual (5th Edition) - Samuel P. Harbison and Guy R. Steele (2002). An excellent reference book on C, up to and including C99. It is not a tutorial, and probably unfit for beginners. It's great if you need to write a compiler for C, as the authors had to do when they started.
C Pocket Reference (O'Reilly) - Peter Prinz and Ulla Kirch-Prinz (2002).
The comp.lang.c FAQ - Steve Summit. Web site with answers to many questions about C.
Various versions of the C language standards can be found here. There is an online version of the draft C11 standard.
The new C standard - an annotated reference (Free PDF) - Derek M. Jones (2009). The "new standard" referred to is the old C99 standard rather than C11.
C Programming: A Modern Approach (2nd Edition) - K. N. King (2008). A good book for learning C.
Programming in C (4th Edition) - Stephen Kochan (2014). A good general introduction and tutorial.
C Primer Plus (5th Edition) - Stephen Prata (2004)
A Book on C - Al Kelley/Ira Pohl (1998).
The C Book (Free Online) - Mike Banahan, Declan Brady, and Mark Doran (1991).
C: How to Program (8th Edition) - Paul Deitel and Harvey M. Deitel (2015). Lots of good tips and best practices for beginners. The index is very good and serves as a decent reference (just not fully comprehensive, and very shallow).
Head First C - David Griffiths and Dawn Griffiths (2012).
Beginning C (5th Edition) - Ivor Horton (2013). Very good explanation of pointers, using lots of small but complete programs.
Sams Teach Yourself C in 21 Days - Bradley L. Jones and Peter Aitken (2002). Very good introductory stuff.
C In Easy Steps (5th Edition) - Mike McGrath (2018). It is a good book for learning and referencing C.
Effective C - Robert C Seacord (2020). A good introduction to modern C, including chapters on dynamic memory allocation, on program structure, and on debugging, testing and analysis. It has some pointers toward probable C2x features.
Modern C — Jens Gustedt (2017 1st Edn; 2020 2nd Edn). Covers C in 5 levels (encounter, acquaintance, cognition, experience, ambition) from beginning C to advanced C. It covers C11 and C17, including threads and atomic access, which few other books do. Not all compilers recognize these features in all environments.
C Interfaces and Implementations - David R. Hanson (1997). Provides information on how to define a boundary between an interface and implementation in C in a generic and reusable fashion. It also demonstrates this principle by applying it to the implementation of common mechanisms and data structures in C, such as lists, sets, exceptions, string manipulation, memory allocators, and more. Basically, Hanson took all the code he'd written as part of building Icon and lcc and pulled out the best bits in a form that other people could reuse for their own projects. It's a model of good C programming using modern design techniques (including Liskov's data abstraction), showing how to organize a big C project as a bunch of useful libraries.
The C Puzzle Book - Alan R. Feuer (1998)
The Standard C Library - P.J. Plauger (1992). It contains the complete source code to an implementation of the C89 standard library, along with extensive discussions about the design and why the code is designed as shown.
21st Century C: C Tips from the New School - Ben Klemens (2012). In addition to the C language, the book explains gdb, valgrind, autotools, and git. The comments on style are found in the last part (Chapter 6 and beyond).
Algorithms in C - Robert Sedgewick (1997). Gives you a real grasp of implementing algorithms in C. Very lucid and clear; will probably make you want to throw away all of your other algorithms books and keep this one.
Problem Solving and Program Design in C (6th Edition) - Jeri R. Hanly and Elliot B. Koffman (2009).
Data Structures - An Advanced Approach Using C - Jeffrey Esakov and Tom Weiss (1989).
C Unleashed - Richard Heathfield, Lawrence Kirby, et al. (2000). Not ideal, but it is worth intermediate programmers practicing problems written in this book. This is a good cookbook-like approach suggested by comp.lang.c contributors.
Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets - Peter van der Linden (1994). Lots of interesting information and war stories from the Sun compiler team, but a little dated in places.
Advanced C Programming by Example - John W. Perry (1998).
Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment - Richard W. Stevens and Stephen A. Rago (2013). Comprehensive description of how to use the Unix APIs from C code, but not so much about the mechanics of C coding.
Essential C (Free PDF) - Nick Parlante (2003). Note that this describes the C90 language at several points (e.g., in discussing // comments and placement of variable declarations at arbitrary points in the code), so it should be treated with some caution.
C Programming FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions - Steve Summit (1995). This is the book of the web site listed earlier. It doesn't cover C99 or the later standards.
C in a Nutshell - Peter Prinz and Tony Crawford (2005). Excellent book if you need a reference for C99.
Functional C - Pieter Hartel and Henk Muller (1997). Teaches modern practices that are invaluable for low-level programming, with concurrency and modularity in mind.
The Practice of Programming - Brian W. Kernighan and Rob Pike (1999). A very good book to accompany K&R. It uses C++ and Java too.
C Traps and Pitfalls by A. Koenig (1989). Very good, but the C style pre-dates standard C, which makes it less recommendable these days.
Some have argued for the removal of 'Traps and Pitfalls' from this list because it has trapped some people into making mistakes; others continue to argue for its inclusion. Perhaps it should be regarded as an 'expert' book because it requires a moderately extensive knowledge of C to understand what's changed since it was published.
MISRA-C - industry standard published and maintained by the Motor Industry Software Reliability Association. Covers C89 and C99.
Although this isn't a book as such, many programmers recommend reading and implementing as much of it as possible. MISRA-C was originally intended as guidelines for safety-critical applications in particular, but it applies to any area of application where stable, bug-free C code is desired (who doesn't want fewer bugs?). MISRA-C is becoming the de facto standard in the whole embedded industry and is getting increasingly popular even in other programming branches. There are (at least) three publications of the standard (1998, 2004, and the current version from 2012). There is also a MISRA Compliance Guidelines document from 2016, and MISRA C:2012 Amendment 1 — Additional Security Guidelines for MISRA C:2012 (published in April 2016).
Note that some of the strictures in the MISRA rules are not appropriate to every context. For example, directive 4.12 states "Dynamic memory allocation shall not be used". This is appropriate in the embedded systems for which the MISRA rules are designed; it is not appropriate everywhere. (Compilers, for instance, generally use dynamic memory allocation for things like symbol tables, and to do without dynamic memory allocation would be difficult, if not preposterous.)
Archived lists of ACCU-reviewed books on Beginner's C (116 titles) from 2007 and Advanced C (76 titles) from 2008. Most of these don't look to be on the main site anymore, and you can't browse that by subject anyway.
There is a list of books and tutorials to be cautious about at the ISO 9899 Wiki, which is not itself formally associated with ISO or the C standard, but contains information about the C standard (though it hails the release of ISO 9899:2011 and does not mention the release of ISO 9899:2018).
Be wary of books written by Herbert Schildt. In particular, you should stay away from C: The Complete Reference (4th Edition, 2000), known in some circles as C: The Complete Nonsense.
Also do not use the book Let Us C (16th Edition, 2017) by Yashwant Kanetkar. Many people view it as an outdated book that teaches Turbo C and has lots of obsolete, misleading and incorrect material. For example, page 137 discusses the expected output from printf("%d %d %d\n", a, ++a, a++) and does not categorize it as undefined behaviour as it should. It also consistently promotes unportable and buggy coding practices, such as using gets, %[\n]s in scanf, storing return value of getchar in a variable of type char or using fflush on stdin.
Learn C The Hard Way (2015) by Zed Shaw. A book with mixed reviews. A critique of this book by Tim Hentenaar:
To summarize my views, which are laid out below, the author presents the material in a greatly oversimplified and misleading way, the whole corpus is a bundled mess, and some of the opinions and analyses he offers are just plain wrong. I've tried to view this book through the eyes of a novice, but unfortunately I am biased by years of experience writing code in C. It's obvious to me that either the author has a flawed understanding of C, or he's deliberately oversimplifying to the point where he's actually misleading the reader (intentionally or otherwise).
"Learn C The Hard Way" is not a book that I could recommend to someone who is both learning to program and learning C. If you're already a competent programmer in some other related language, then it represents an interesting and unusual exposition on C, though I have reservations about parts of the book. Jonathan Leffler
Other contributors, not necessarily credited in the revision history, include:
Alex Lockwood,
Ben Jackson,
Bubbles,
claws,
coledot,
Dana Robinson,
Daniel Holden,
desbest,
Dervin Thunk,
dwc,
Erci Hou,
Garen,
haziz,
Johan Bezem,
Jonathan Leffler,
Joshua Partogi,
Lucas,
Lundin,
Matt K.,
mossplix,
Matthieu M.,
midor,
Nietzche-jou,
Norman Ramsey,
r3st0r3,
ridthyself,
Robert S. Barnes,
Steve Summit,
Tim Ring,
Tony Bai,
VMAtm
C++ Primer * (Stanley Lippman, Josée Lajoie, and Barbara E. Moo) (updated for C++11) Coming at 1k pages, this is a very thorough introduction into C++ that covers just about everything in the language in a very accessible format and in great detail. The fifth edition (released August 16, 2012) covers C++11. [Review]
* Not to be confused with C++ Primer Plus (Stephen Prata), with a significantly less favorable review.
Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ (Bjarne Stroustrup, 2nd Edition - May 25, 2014) (updated for C++11/C++14) An introduction to programming using C++ by the creator of the language. A good read, that assumes no previous programming experience, but is not only for beginners.
A Tour of C++ (Bjarne Stroustrup) (2nd edition for C++17) The “tour” is a quick (about 180 pages and 14 chapters) tutorial overview of all of standard C++ (language and standard library, and using C++11) at a moderately high level for people who already know C++ or at least are experienced programmers. This book is an extended version of the material that constitutes Chapters 2-5 of The C++ Programming Language, 4th edition.
Accelerated C++ (Andrew Koenig and Barbara Moo, 1st Edition - August 24, 2000) This basically covers the same ground as the C++ Primer, but does so on a fourth of its space. This is largely because it does not attempt to be an introduction to programming, but an introduction to C++ for people who've previously programmed in some other language. It has a steeper learning curve, but, for those who can cope with this, it is a very compact introduction to the language. (Historically, it broke new ground by being the first beginner's book to use a modern approach to teaching the language.) Despite this, the C++ it teaches is purely C++98. [Review]
Effective C++ (Scott Meyers, 3rd Edition - May 22, 2005) This was written with the aim of being the best second book C++ programmers should read, and it succeeded. Earlier editions were aimed at programmers coming from C, the third edition changes this and targets programmers coming from languages like Java. It presents ~50 easy-to-remember rules of thumb along with their rationale in a very accessible (and enjoyable) style. For C++11 and C++14 the examples and a few issues are outdated and Effective Modern C++ should be preferred. [Review]
Effective Modern C++ (Scott Meyers) This is basically the new version of Effective C++, aimed at C++ programmers making the transition from C++03 to C++11 and C++14.
Effective STL (Scott Meyers) This aims to do the same to the part of the standard library coming from the STL what Effective C++ did to the language as a whole: It presents rules of thumb along with their rationale. [Review]
More Effective C++ (Scott Meyers) Even more rules of thumb than Effective C++. Not as important as the ones in the first book, but still good to know.
Exceptional C++ (Herb Sutter) Presented as a set of puzzles, this has one of the best and thorough discussions of the proper resource management and exception safety in C++ through Resource Acquisition is Initialization (RAII) in addition to in-depth coverage of a variety of other topics including the pimpl idiom, name lookup, good class design, and the C++ memory model. [Review]
More Exceptional C++ (Herb Sutter) Covers additional exception safety topics not covered in Exceptional C++, in addition to discussion of effective object-oriented programming in C++ and correct use of the STL. [Review]
Exceptional C++ Style (Herb Sutter) Discusses generic programming, optimization, and resource management; this book also has an excellent exposition of how to write modular code in C++ by using non-member functions and the single responsibility principle. [Review]
C++ Coding Standards (Herb Sutter and Andrei Alexandrescu) “Coding standards” here doesn't mean “how many spaces should I indent my code?” This book contains 101 best practices, idioms, and common pitfalls that can help you to write correct, understandable, and efficient C++ code. [Review]
C++ Templates: The Complete Guide (David Vandevoorde and Nicolai M. Josuttis) This is the book about templates as they existed before C++11. It covers everything from the very basics to some of the most advanced template metaprogramming and explains every detail of how templates work (both conceptually and at how they are implemented) and discusses many common pitfalls. Has excellent summaries of the One Definition Rule (ODR) and overload resolution in the appendices. A second edition covering C++11, C++14 and C++17 has been already published. [Review]
C++ 17 - The Complete Guide (Nicolai M. Josuttis) This book describes all the new features introduced in the C++17 Standard covering everything from the simple ones like 'Inline Variables', 'constexpr if' all the way up to 'Polymorphic Memory Resources' and 'New and Delete with overaligned Data'. [Review]
C++ in Action (Bartosz Milewski). This book explains C++ and its features by building an application from ground up. [Review]
Functional Programming in C++ (Ivan Cukic). This book introduces functional programming techniques to modern C++ (C++11 and later). A very nice read for those who want to apply functional programming paradigms to C++.
Professional C++ (Marc Gregoire, 5th Edition - Feb 2021) Provides a comprehensive and detailed tour of the C++ language implementation replete with professional tips and concise but informative in-text examples, emphasizing C++20 features. Uses C++20 features, such as modules and std::format throughout all examples.
Modern C++ Design (Andrei Alexandrescu) A groundbreaking book on advanced generic programming techniques. Introduces policy-based design, type lists, and fundamental generic programming idioms then explains how many useful design patterns (including small object allocators, functors, factories, visitors, and multi-methods) can be implemented efficiently, modularly, and cleanly using generic programming. [Review]
C++ Template Metaprogramming (David Abrahams and Aleksey Gurtovoy)
C++ Concurrency In Action (Anthony Williams) A book covering C++11 concurrency support including the thread library, the atomics library, the C++ memory model, locks and mutexes, as well as issues of designing and debugging multithreaded applications. A second edition covering C++14 and C++17 has been already published. [Review]
Advanced C++ Metaprogramming (Davide Di Gennaro) A pre-C++11 manual of TMP techniques, focused more on practice than theory. There are a ton of snippets in this book, some of which are made obsolete by type traits, but the techniques, are nonetheless useful to know. If you can put up with the quirky formatting/editing, it is easier to read than Alexandrescu, and arguably, more rewarding. For more experienced developers, there is a good chance that you may pick up something about a dark corner of C++ (a quirk) that usually only comes about through extensive experience.
The C++ Programming Language (Bjarne Stroustrup) (updated for C++11) The classic introduction to C++ by its creator. Written to parallel the classic K&R, this indeed reads very much like it and covers just about everything from the core language to the standard library, to programming paradigms to the language's philosophy. [Review] Note: All releases of the C++ standard are tracked in the question "Where do I find the current C or C++ standard documents?".
C++ Standard Library Tutorial and Reference (Nicolai Josuttis) (updated for C++11) The introduction and reference for the C++ Standard Library. The second edition (released on April 9, 2012) covers C++11. [Review]
The C++ IO Streams and Locales (Angelika Langer and Klaus Kreft) There's very little to say about this book except that, if you want to know anything about streams and locales, then this is the one place to find definitive answers. [Review]
C++11/14/17/… References:
The C++11/14/17 Standard (INCITS/ISO/IEC 14882:2011/2014/2017) This, of course, is the final arbiter of all that is or isn't C++. Be aware, however, that it is intended purely as a reference for experienced users willing to devote considerable time and effort to its understanding. The C++17 standard is released in electronic form for 198 Swiss Francs.
The C++17 standard is available, but seemingly not in an economical form – directly from the ISO it costs 198 Swiss Francs (about $200 US). For most people, the final draft before standardization is more than adequate (and free). Many will prefer an even newer draft, documenting new features that are likely to be included in C++20.
Overview of the New C++ (C++11/14) (PDF only) (Scott Meyers) (updated for C++14) These are the presentation materials (slides and some lecture notes) of a three-day training course offered by Scott Meyers, who's a highly respected author on C++. Even though the list of items is short, the quality is high.
The C++ Core Guidelines (C++11/14/17/…) (edited by Bjarne Stroustrup and Herb Sutter) is an evolving online document consisting of a set of guidelines for using modern C++ well. The guidelines are focused on relatively higher-level issues, such as interfaces, resource management, memory management and concurrency affecting application architecture and library design. The project was announced at CppCon'15 by Bjarne Stroustrup and others and welcomes contributions from the community. Most guidelines are supplemented with a rationale and examples as well as discussions of possible tool support. Many rules are designed specifically to be automatically checkable by static analysis tools.
The C++ Super-FAQ (Marshall Cline, Bjarne Stroustrup and others) is an effort by the Standard C++ Foundation to unify the C++ FAQs previously maintained individually by Marshall Cline and Bjarne Stroustrup and also incorporating new contributions. The items mostly address issues at an intermediate level and are often written with a humorous tone. Not all items might be fully up to date with the latest edition of the C++ standard yet.
cppreference.com (C++03/11/14/17/…) (initiated by Nate Kohl) is a wiki that summarizes the basic core-language features and has extensive documentation of the C++ standard library. The documentation is very precise but is easier to read than the official standard document and provides better navigation due to its wiki nature. The project documents all versions of the C++ standard and the site allows filtering the display for a specific version. The project was presented by Nate Kohl at CppCon'14.
Note: Some information contained within these books may not be up-to-date or no longer considered best practice.
The Design and Evolution of C++ (Bjarne Stroustrup) If you want to know why the language is the way it is, this book is where you find answers. This covers everything before the standardization of C++.
Ruminations on C++ - (Andrew Koenig and Barbara Moo) [Review]
Advanced C++ Programming Styles and Idioms (James Coplien) A predecessor of the pattern movement, it describes many C++-specific “idioms”. It's certainly a very good book and might still be worth a read if you can spare the time, but quite old and not up-to-date with current C++.
Large Scale C++ Software Design (John Lakos) Lakos explains techniques to manage very big C++ software projects. Certainly, a good read, if it only was up to date. It was written long before C++ 98 and misses on many features (e.g. namespaces) important for large-scale projects. If you need to work in a big C++ software project, you might want to read it, although you need to take more than a grain of salt with it. The first volume of a new edition is released in 2019.
Inside the C++ Object Model (Stanley Lippman) If you want to know how virtual member functions are commonly implemented and how base objects are commonly laid out in memory in a multi-inheritance scenario, and how all this affects performance, this is where you will find thorough discussions of such topics.
The Annotated C++ Reference Manual (Bjarne Stroustrup, Margaret A. Ellis) This book is quite outdated in the fact that it explores the 1989 C++ 2.0 version - Templates, exceptions, namespaces and new casts were not yet introduced. Saying that however, this book goes through the entire C++ standard of the time explaining the rationale, the possible implementations, and features of the language. This is not a book to learn programming principles and patterns on C++, but to understand every aspect of the C++ language.
Thinking in C++ (Bruce Eckel, 2nd Edition, 2000). Two volumes; is a tutorial style free set of intro level books. Downloads: vol 1, vol 2. Unfortunately they're marred by a number of trivial errors (e.g. maintaining that temporaries are automatically const), with no official errata list. A partial 3rd party errata list is available at http://www.computersciencelab.com/Eckel.htm, but it is apparently not maintained.
Scientific and Engineering C++: An Introduction to Advanced Techniques and Examples (John Barton and Lee Nackman) It is a comprehensive and very detailed book that tried to explain and make use of all the features available in C++, in the context of numerical methods. It introduced at the time several new techniques, such as the Curiously Recurring Template Pattern (CRTP, also called Barton-Nackman trick). It pioneered several techniques such as dimensional analysis and automatic differentiation. It came with a lot of compilable and useful code, ranging from an expression parser to a Lapack wrapper. The code is still available online. Unfortunately, the books have become somewhat outdated in the style and C++ features, however, it was an incredible tour-de-force at the time (1994, pre-STL). The chapters on dynamics inheritance are a bit complicated to understand and not very useful. An updated version of this classic book that includes move semantics and the lessons learned from the STL would be very nice.
Source: Stackoverflow.com