Java & C++ Programming Books -- Help Please

You can basically bet on one publisher, O'Reilly, to have great books for any subject. I use Java in a Nutshell as my best reference. Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java and Thinking in C++ are legendary.

Suns books are fairly bad, but they are detailed.

 

Effective Java by Bloch is very good.

Once you've got the C++ basics then Scott Meyers books are must-haves.

 

At $94, im sure someone was upset that they lost it, and close to finals too! Hope they don't have a final project due soon
I'll second the Oriely books, but often those are just references. I've always enjoyed Deitel & Deitel books.

 

Deitel and Deitel make the best C++ programming book in my opinion , and I have over 8 in my library. Especially good for beginners and definantly a good reference for experts. For java, check out 'Development in java', although that book expects you to know the basics of programming

 

Another vote for O'Reilly. Never encountered a bad book from them. Not a big fan of Deitel books. I've tried a few, and they've all been quite disappointing.

Then, once you've gotten the basics. These two are very handy: C/C++ Programmer's Reference and Java 2 Programmer's Reference. (Couldn't find a newer/current version of the Java book, but it will still be helpful).

You could also check out the complete versions of those reference books: C++ and Java (J2SE 5). I haven't actually tried the full versions, but it's smaller siblings are within reach most of the time...