How to Read This Book If You Already Know C

C++ is built on the C language. If you know C, you will find much of the material presented in Chapter 2 through Chapter 12 familiar.

C++ does introduce a number of new minor improvements to C++, including:

• An entirely new I/O system. (The basics are described in Chapter 4. The new file system is discussed in detail in Chapter 16.)

• Constants and reference variables (described in Chapter 5).

• Function overloading, inline functions, reference parameters, and default parameters. (Read Chapter 9.)

So you can use C++ as a better C. But C++ has added some entirely new features such as objects, templates, and exceptions. So starting with Chapter 13, you will begin to learn entirely new concepts.