It Works — So Where Next

By this point you've worked through everything the getting-started volume set out to do: part 2 got vscode, the compiler, and CMake installed; part 3 ran your first hello inside vscode; part 4 grew the project into multiple files and put CMake in charge of a real project for the first time; part 5 made vscode genuinely understand your code (click a function and you jump, the red squiggles go away). A working C++ environment now sits in front of you — it compiles, it autocompletes, it jumps to definitions. That's everything this volume owed you, done.

Where to head next depends on what you're after. Four roads are laid out below — pick the one closest to what you have in mind and walk down it.

If You Want to Nail Down C++ First

The getting-started volume fixed "the environment runs"; it never touched a single line of proper C++ syntax — what a variable is, how to write a loop, how to define a function, what a class is. We haven't said one word about any of that yet. That's the real capital you write C++ with, and it's the foundation every later volume stands on.

Your next stop is Volume 1 · Fundamentals, which runs from C++'s most basic syntax all the way up to object orientation and templates. This volume is the main line — whatever direction you end up choosing, you can't get around it. Grind through Volume 1 first, then talk about the rest.

If You Want to Understand CMake and Build Systems

In the getting-started volume you only learned "copy a snippet of CMakeLists, click the button, it runs." What CMake is actually doing behind the scenes, why there are two steps called "configure" and "generate", why the word target shows up everywhere, and which patch add_executable and target_link_libraries each cover — none of that got unpacked.

For the answers, head to Volume 7 · Engineering Practice. That's where the advanced CMake material lives, going from a single target up to multi-module organization and how to pull external dependencies in. One word of warning, though: Volume 7 assumes you already know basic C++ syntax, so even if engineering is what excites you more, we suggest running through Volume 1 first — otherwise you'll get stuck reading it.

If You Want to Understand How Compiling and Linking Work

You may have already bumped into a few odd phenomena in part 4: you clearly changed only one file, yet CMake rebuilds just that one and leaves the others untouched; every so often an undefined reference pops up, with an error message that looks terrifying; and people chat about static libraries versus dynamic libraries as if they were two completely different things. Underneath all of these runs the same machinery — compiling and linking.

To get this machinery straight, go to Compilation and Linking, In Depth. It walks from "what the compiler translates a .cpp into" to "how the linker stitches a pile of fragments into an .exe", and covers thoroughly the difference between static and dynamic libraries and exactly which step an undefined reference gets stuck on. It goes fairly deep, so newcomers are advised to grind through Volume 1 first — otherwise it's easy to be scared off.

If You Want to Do Embedded and Program Microcontrollers

Plenty of folks come here for embedded — they want their code running on a chip the size of a fingernail, like an STM32, lighting LEDs, reading sensors, driving motors. Honest talk first: most projects in the embedded world use C, not C++. But modern C++ works in embedded too and brings its own payoffs (type safety, zero-overhead abstraction, RAII for resource management), and this tutorial's embedded track takes the C++ route, in Volume 8 · Domains.

But the embedded track's threshold is not low: you need C++ syntax first (Volume 1), plus some grasp of builds and toolchains (the cross-compiling part of Volume 7), and the resources on a chip are tight and finicky. So the precondition is to lay the groundwork from Volume 1 through Volume 7 first. Don't dive headfirst into the chip right away, or you'll get stuck hanging in midair.

The Getting-Started Volume Drops You Off Here

The getting-started volume walks you to the great gate of C++, presses the key into your hand, and points at the door. The real C++ journey starts in Volume 1.