title: C++ for a C# developer
body: <p>I'm a .NET developer, and worked with VB6 before that.  I've become very familiar with those environments, and working in the context of garbage collected languages.  However, I now wish to bolster my skillset with native C++ and find myself a bit overwhelmed.  Ironically, it's not what I'd imagine is the usual stumbling blocks for beginners as I feel that I've got the grasp of pointers and memory management fairly well.  The thing that's a bit confusing for me is more along the lines of:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Referencing/using other libraries</li>
  <li>Exposing <em>my</em> libraries for others to use</li>
  <li>String handling</li>
  <li>Data type conversions</li>
  <li>Good project structure</li>
  <li>Data structures to use (ie. in C#, I use <code>List&lt;T&gt;</code> a lot, what do I use in C++ that works simiarly?)</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>It almost feels like depending on the IDE you use, the guidelines are different, so I was really looking for something that's perhaps a bit more universal. Or at worst, focused on using Microsoft's compiler/IDE.  Also, just to be clear, I'm not looking for anything about general programming practices (Design Patterns, Code Complete, etc.) as I feel I'm pretty well versed in those topics.</p>