if i was to buy a book on learning c++, would i be better off looking for something recent? has the actual language changed all that much in the last decade or so? i ask because there's one for sweet f*ck all on amazon - but its from 1996

I think it's been built on more than changed.
What's the book? If it aint Stroustrup himself or O'Reilly i wouldn't bother.

It hasnt changed really. It never will to be honest. The point of C++ ahead of Java and the likes is that in C++ everything is done from scratch. In Java, Sun add to it all the time. C++ it doesnt.

What you want to use it for?

cheers lads

basically just wanted to try to learn a bit of it

no particular end use in mind at all

in the end i went for c++ for dummies, and we'll see how that works out. apparently its a decent intro and has you writing programs from the first chapter. hopefully it doesnt fall down where some of the other "for dummies" books i have did and assume a level of knowledge to begin with, because i have none

apparently c# is better for game related stuff...

anyone any ideas which would be best to get cracking on?

use C# on XNA. If you want to do game stuff its the way to go. C# is infinitely easier and XNA is a game engine so tonnes of the sh*t is already done for you.

You should also look into DirectX and OpenGL.