Is the C++ for dummies book a good way to start learning C++?

Good enough for a 14 year old to use?

I own the book and had read much of it as a 14-year-old. I felt like it had an awkward pace. It starts off by saying a lot of stuff I didn't understand (like the history of GNU C++, how to pronounce it, etc.), but it took a long time to delve into anything meaningful or useful. It comes with a Windows compiler, which is nice, but I never had a great experience with the book.

Since then, I had dropped C++, lived my life, then went to college (Computer Engineering). I have since had to re-learn C++ (the book wasn't interesting or meaningful enough to me to keep me going) and everything is just great. Now, if you are the type that likes technical-ish books (like computer manuals, etc.), I think you would get a lot more enjoyment out of a college level textbook. I used "Object-Oriented Programming in C++" by Robert LaFore ($~25 on half.com) which worked well for me. Everyone will have their own book to recommend, but the point that I should make is that if you really want to learn C++ well enough to do anything useful, get a college textbook. They're not all that complicated and I could have understood it as 14-year-old. If you're just wanting to dabble and get your feet wet to prepare you for Introductory Computer Science high school, then maybe "C++ For Dummies" is a good choice. If you're starting to learn programming for the very first time, you might instead look at learning Java or Ruby, as they are significantly easier for a 14-year-old (especially when it comes to memory management and pointers and whatnot).

Anyways, good luck!

Definately

If you want to start with C++ with not much background, I highly recommend Steve Hellers book instead. It's quite thorough, and hopefully will prevent you from picking up the bad habits most beginners do when they start with C/C++. BTW, it's free online.

http://steveheller.com/cppad/cppad.htm