Need direction with my next learning step
Hello all, I am after some advice.
I am relatively new to the C++ scene, but have a fair amount of programming experience. I have programmed in BASIC (and later variants of it), For years. But the programming language I have been using for like the past 10 years, Blitz Basic 3D (Don't hate me!), is starting to look pretty ancient.
So I tried getting into Java, but it never really engaged me. Now I'm learning C++ and indeed enjoying it so far. Seems to be much better suited to me.
I have been going through the 70+ video tutorial series of "Buckys C++ Programming" on youtube. I don't mean to brag, but its been fairly easy (mostly). I did learn a few things but for most of it, I was only watching to find out HOW you do things, I already knew what a lot of it was/ I'm nearly at the end now.
The question is, where is my next step?
Obviously, I need to have goals, I suspect there is a lot of materials and courses and things out there. Perhaps it will help you to know a bit about what I want to be doing:
- I enjoy programs/programming with a visual aspect, ones with graphics (2d or 3d, 3d engines, dancing fairys etc (I think you get the picture)
- I enjoy making simulation based programming, such as fruit machines, gambling games etc. These usually have the most ugly graphics in the world.
- A couple of projects I work on deal with editing external files, although I'd need something nicer than a console window for that.
- I enjoy maintaining and improving my code. When i started trying to manage memory usage in a Blitz Basic program, I was actually able to remove 25% of the memory usage, and increase the FPS dramatically.
A lot of people are probably preparing to say things which I could paraphrase as "slow down, baby steps... do some more learning!". I accept this, but wanted to list the above so you can see where I'm trying to get to.
I don't mind spending more time learning of course, but would prefer books/series that offer a mix of theory and practical work/tests assignments rather than just a ton of reading.
So based off the above, can anyone offer advice as to where I should take my studies next? Remember, I don't have a PHD in computer science, and am only going to be making amateur programs for my own amusement.
I am relatively new to the C++ scene, but have a fair amount of programming experience. I have programmed in BASIC (and later variants of it), For years. But the programming language I have been using for like the past 10 years, Blitz Basic 3D (Don't hate me!), is starting to look pretty ancient.
So I tried getting into Java, but it never really engaged me. Now I'm learning C++ and indeed enjoying it so far. Seems to be much better suited to me.
I have been going through the 70+ video tutorial series of "Buckys C++ Programming" on youtube. I don't mean to brag, but its been fairly easy (mostly). I did learn a few things but for most of it, I was only watching to find out HOW you do things, I already knew what a lot of it was/ I'm nearly at the end now.
The question is, where is my next step?
Obviously, I need to have goals, I suspect there is a lot of materials and courses and things out there. Perhaps it will help you to know a bit about what I want to be doing:
- I enjoy programs/programming with a visual aspect, ones with graphics (2d or 3d, 3d engines, dancing fairys etc (I think you get the picture)
- I enjoy making simulation based programming, such as fruit machines, gambling games etc. These usually have the most ugly graphics in the world.
- A couple of projects I work on deal with editing external files, although I'd need something nicer than a console window for that.
- I enjoy maintaining and improving my code. When i started trying to manage memory usage in a Blitz Basic program, I was actually able to remove 25% of the memory usage, and increase the FPS dramatically.
A lot of people are probably preparing to say things which I could paraphrase as "slow down, baby steps... do some more learning!". I accept this, but wanted to list the above so you can see where I'm trying to get to.
I don't mind spending more time learning of course, but would prefer books/series that offer a mix of theory and practical work/tests assignments rather than just a ton of reading.
So based off the above, can anyone offer advice as to where I should take my studies next? Remember, I don't have a PHD in computer science, and am only going to be making amateur programs for my own amusement.
| A lot of people are probably preparing to say things which I could paraphrase as "slow down, baby steps... do some more learning!" |
Actually, most of us are going to tell you to just jump into something now. Sounds like you know enough to be able just start on a project that interests you.
Sounds like you like graphics, look into SFML. It's pretty simple to use, yet has a lot of strength. Make some video game with it.
Thanks for that, although could you provide some more info, beyond the basics of coding, I'm pretty lost at the mo, and I daren't revert to a google search as theres a lot of chance of less valuable resources and stuff turning up.
Can anyone recommend good places to start learning basics of things graphical? Books, video series, anything? Links appreciated!
Cheers!
Can anyone recommend good places to start learning basics of things graphical? Books, video series, anything? Links appreciated!
Cheers!
Go grab SFML. The SFML website has a whole bunch of tutorials to get you going. And it has some very excellent documentation.
Thanks for the response is that from: http://www.sfml-dev.org/
?
It has a pretty looking website, and im always suspicious of pretty looking websites! What exactly is SFML, is it a C++ editor/compiler, or something else?
Whilst yeah I don't particularly mind, evnetually I'm going to be making large programs, which will encounter many badly-written bugs. So i kind of want to stay away from 3rd Party software which sits between my code and interprets my simple instructions into complex code.
Mostly so that if I do encounter a bug, I know *I* made it, its not something which could be blamed on SFML for having some obscure bug!
PS I have also decided to start programming for OpenGL, so am looking for a good video series on doing that with C++/codeblocks if such a thing exists
?
It has a pretty looking website, and im always suspicious of pretty looking websites! What exactly is SFML, is it a C++ editor/compiler, or something else?
Whilst yeah I don't particularly mind, evnetually I'm going to be making large programs, which will encounter many badly-written bugs. So i kind of want to stay away from 3rd Party software which sits between my code and interprets my simple instructions into complex code.
Mostly so that if I do encounter a bug, I know *I* made it, its not something which could be blamed on SFML for having some obscure bug!
PS I have also decided to start programming for OpenGL, so am looking for a good video series on doing that with C++/codeblocks if such a thing exists
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