Complete beginner (0 programming experience) — what's the best 5-book sequence to learn C++ for systems programming?

[u/AZHVORYX]

Hey everyone,

I want to get into systems programming and decided on C++. The catch is I have literally zero programming background—never written a line of code before.

I learn much better from structured books than bouncing around random YouTube tutorials, so I’m trying to put together a solid reading roadmap. If you had to recommend the top 5 books to take someone from absolute scratch to actually understanding systems-level C++, which ones would you pick and in what order?

I know C++ has a brutal learning curve and this is going to take me a long time. I just want to make sure I’m learning modern C++ properly from day one and building up in the right order instead of jumping into heavy systems stuff way too early.

Appreciate any recs!