C to learn C++?

I have learned java last year, and this year I'll be learning C++, but in the meantime would it be better to learn about C or just dive in C++ directly?

C++ isn't a better alternative to C. It's a better alternative to nothing. "Best practice" code, while avoiding some of the problems of C-style code, is far too verbose.

If you have to build something big, you shouldn't be using C++. The only thing as ugly as C++ is shell scripting. Java comes pretty close too. of course enterprisey LOVES C++ and Java.

About the only domain I can see C++ being used in is games, and that's only because of the engines and middleware. If you're starting a new project in 2007 that uses C++, you're a fucking idiot.