C++ is a backwards-compatible superset of C, but it is multi-paradigm language, offering (at least) object-oriented programming, generic programming, and original C-style procedural programming. (And functional programming can be faked pretty well.) This makes C++ a much more powerful language than C.
If you decide to learn C++, I highly recommend Thinking in C++, by Bruce Eckel. It's available for free download at www.mindview.net, and is also available from the Science library in Swain. It has a chapter which discusses C in relation to C++—what's still used, and what's been improved, etc.—and the hard copy available at Swain has the bonus of a CD called "Thinking in C", which introduces you to C purely with a view to getting a basis for learning C++ or Java (I have not used the CD and thus cannot recommend it; I'm just telling you it's there).
The mindview page also has links to Thinking in Java and Thinking in Python.
Once you start using C++ seriously, you will probably want to learn how to write a MakeFile so that make can automate your use of the compiler.
Examples of C++ code on jones:
- ~ncsander/Public/ice.cpp
- (add your examples here)
C++ references and tutorials:
See also: