Where do I begin?
Hello forumer,
Firstly, I suppose I should introduce myself, I am Gol, and well, I'd like to be a programmer (C++ preferably). I had the idea that I might like to learn the language a year ago when a friend asked me to help him find a programmer for his game. After some deliberation I suggested I could learn the language and help him myself.
One year on, and I've made very little progress. People say knowledge is power, and one must guard it well, it certainly seems the case in the programming world. It seems very hard to find any help from experienced users of the language and therefore I do not really understand where to go forward with teaching myself.
So perhaps you guys could help me? I'd basically like to know how to go about teaching myself C++ (with the eventual goal of programming games if I need to be specific) It seems that, much like learning a language, it's very hard to learn by yourself and where to start. Do you begin with syntax, lexis or learning the words for example.
So far I've purchased one book, Beginning C++ Game Programming - By Michael Dawson and while it explains the very basics of it all, I don't know if it's a good place to start. I mean, obviously it doesn't explain things like creating GUI's and adding 3D graphics to them (although I know that's a long way off).
Furthermore, what do C++ programmes do apart from create game engines? It might be nice to get some examples.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this. - Gol.
P.S. Do I need an advanced understanding of maths to be good at C++? I have a B in GCSE mathematics but hell, I'm not someone that can trawl through algebra and reach an answer in seconds.
Firstly, I suppose I should introduce myself, I am Gol, and well, I'd like to be a programmer (C++ preferably). I had the idea that I might like to learn the language a year ago when a friend asked me to help him find a programmer for his game. After some deliberation I suggested I could learn the language and help him myself.
One year on, and I've made very little progress. People say knowledge is power, and one must guard it well, it certainly seems the case in the programming world. It seems very hard to find any help from experienced users of the language and therefore I do not really understand where to go forward with teaching myself.
So perhaps you guys could help me? I'd basically like to know how to go about teaching myself C++ (with the eventual goal of programming games if I need to be specific) It seems that, much like learning a language, it's very hard to learn by yourself and where to start. Do you begin with syntax, lexis or learning the words for example.
So far I've purchased one book, Beginning C++ Game Programming - By Michael Dawson and while it explains the very basics of it all, I don't know if it's a good place to start. I mean, obviously it doesn't explain things like creating GUI's and adding 3D graphics to them (although I know that's a long way off).
Furthermore, what do C++ programmes do apart from create game engines? It might be nice to get some examples.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this. - Gol.
P.S. Do I need an advanced understanding of maths to be good at C++? I have a B in GCSE mathematics but hell, I'm not someone that can trawl through algebra and reach an answer in seconds.
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Here's a seemingly useful resource I found today: http://xoax.net/info/sitemap.php
Loads of c++ tutorial videos.
SDL tutorials if you ever choose to use SDL for game development: http://lazyfoo.net/SDL_tutorials/
Loads of c++ tutorial videos.
SDL tutorials if you ever choose to use SDL for game development: http://lazyfoo.net/SDL_tutorials/
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| what do C++ programmes do apart from create game engines? |
Everything. From operating systems to games to business applications to drivers to rendering engines to everything else. For some of these, C is more common, but one of the beautiful things about C++ is that you can pick just a couple of aspects that you'd find really useful for the task from the C++ set, and do the rest in off-the-shelf C.
| Do I need an advanced understanding of maths to be good at C++? |
Only if you want to programme advanced mathematical applications. Otherwise, a moderate knowledge will do. Being familiar with GSCE, I would posit that if you want to do anything with graphics, the level of understanding and the tools taught at GCSE will not suffice and you'll have some learning to do.
You could do a lot worse than starting at Project Euler, which will force you not just to learn syntax and programming concepts, but how to think about solving problems mathematically and programmatically . This forum is full of people needing help not with syntax, but help with actually understanding how to solve problems programmatically.
http://projecteuler.net/
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Wow, thank you for the speedy replies! I will check out these resources as soon as I have a spare moment.
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